


First Steps

by FeatherQuillsFiction



Series: Dance of the Ice Dragoness [2]
Category: Bleach, Naruto
Genre: All relationships are minor except friend and family bonds, At least with Sasuke, Bloodline Uzumaki Naruto, Civilian Council are assholes, Female Hitsugaya Toushirou, Female Kyuubi | Nine-tails | Kurama, Gen, Genderfluid Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura Bashing, Remember how I said that the bashing was temporary?, She might come around, Shimura Danzo is an asshole, Smart Uzumaki Naruto, Turns out I lied, Uchiha Sasuke Bashing, Uzumaki Naruto as Hokage's heir, Zabuza and Haku join Konoha
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-07-19
Updated: 2016-11-22
Packaged: 2018-07-24 19:11:45
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 6
Words: 24,869
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7519867
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/FeatherQuillsFiction/pseuds/FeatherQuillsFiction
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Team 7 falls apart before they even officially become Team 7. How will this effect the rest of the Naruto plotline?</p><p>• • •</p><p>Or: Missing nin join Konoha, the Civilian Council schemes, and Toshiro just can't seem to catch a break.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> And here we have it, folks! The second installment of my Bleach/Naruto crossover! If you have not read the first part, A New Home, I would recommend you do so now, otherwise nothing will make sense.
> 
> This was hard to do. I'm currently in the middle of a complete rewrite of this part because I didn't like where it was going. Current posting schedule is every Tuesday and Saturday. That should give me enough time to get everything wrapped up.
> 
> Enjoy~!

Toshiro was not in a good mood.

Naruto had retained the rank of “Dead Last” due to the sabotage in his prior years in the Academy. Two months of correction, while immensely helpful from this point on, didn’t make that much of a difference in the long run, except in allowing him to pass the graduation exam with flying colors and bring his grade up to just under the second-lowest score. They’d known for practically the entirety of their friendship that they were going to be on a team together. That wasn’t what was putting her in such a bad mood. Well, as much as it could be. They were going to stay together, and that knowledge tamped down the majority of her annoyance at Naruto’s rank of “Dead Last.”

Between Toshiro and Ino, Naruto was also no longer wearing that orange monstrosity that made him look like his so-called title. He limited the kill-me orange to just bandage wrappings he had around his ankles and wrists, going up their respective limbs halfway to the major joints. It still existed, but at least the color wasn’t a whole jumpsuit. Instead, they managed to get Naruto into a pair of black shorts that ended just below his knees and had a multitude of pockets and built-in kunai and shuriken holsters, a mesh short sleeve shirt, and a darker orange half-vest with the Uzumaki crest in white on the back between his shoulder blades that covered what needed to be in both his male and female forms. He also had black shinobi sandals and gloves. The death of the kill me orange jumpsuit had actually brightened Toshiro’s mood from the dark cloud of what it could be, but not enough to actually remove it.

Her investigation had borne some fruit, considering Mizuki’s status as a traitor of the Leaf and prompt execution for cavorting with one of the worst S-rank missing nin to ever turn their back on the village. She also found enough evidence that if she was allowed to act would send several instructors and Academy officials at least into T&I’s tender and caring hands for a thorough reconditioning. She had just started looking into the small-trouble Civilian Council members the other week, but they were apparently very good at keeping their secrets to themselves. Honestly, half of the information she had been finding either had to do with the big-trouble Council members, the Elders, or the Clans. All of whom, she wasn’t able to touch. Yet. The compilation of information was nice to have, but it wasn’t helping her mood any.

Kakashi had said that he was going to be a little late to meeting the team, and made her leave Hyorinmaru hidden in Training Ground 7 after hearing that Shikaku wanted to talk over her investigations with her the next day. She didn’t know why she had to leave her zanpaktō behind, but she was not happy about it. And even that wasn’t the worst of it all!

No, what truly darkened her mood was, despite intimate knowledge of the situation yet fervent yearning for a miracle, who had graduated as Rookie of the Year and Top Kunoichi.

Toshiro silently growled as she stalked behind Naruto to a seat in the back of the room just from thinking about her two new teammates. The angst whore, and the angst whore’s number one wannabe wife. So not who she wanted to be on the same team with, but they were still mostly expected. She had, after all, been assigned to the Academy to keep an eye on those who could make the rankings, and had deduced that unless someone pulled that miracle she was hoping for out of their ass _those two_ would wind up being the other half of their team.

That didn’t mean she liked the situation.

In fact, it just meant that she was on the very edge of freezing the whole room solid. Again.

She slumped down next to Shikamaru and let her head fall onto the desktop. The lazy pineapple headed genius patted her shoulder consolingly, understanding the majority of her reasons to be creating frost on the desk and seat since he had figured out how the teams were most likely to be organized. Honestly, such a waste of potential having him be born in this plane, Shikamaru would have been so at home in the Tenth Division. Toshiro just barely saw Chouji hold out his bag of chips to Naruto out of the corner of her eye, and Ino calmly settling in on Shikamaru’s other side. The pale blonde didn’t ever show their close acquaintanceship that bordered on friendship publicly, considering how she was, but to every one else she was making an effort to be nice to her future teammate’s friends. When asked how Ino knew who her teammates were, she pointed to the generations of what was known as the “Ino-Shika-Cho” triad that appeared whenever a Yamanaka, Nara, and Akimichi were all in the same class. It was practically an unavoidable situation.

Honestly, Toshiro would have almost rather have had the Ino-Shika-Cho as her teammates, especially now that Ino was mostly broken from her fangirl tendencies and was kinder to those not within her sphere of influence. But that would leave Naruto to the angst whore and his wannabe wife, and she wasn’t that sadistic as to leave her first best friend to suffer in such conditions.

Toshiro didn’t even bother levering herself up off the desk when Iruka walked in and started his speech about how proud he was and what they should expect now that they were out of the Academy. She didn’t even bother raising her head when he started calling out the team assignments. Her only reaction upon hearing, “Team 7 will be Uzumaki Naruto, Haruno Sakura, Uchiha Sasuke, and Hitsugaya Toshiro,” was to lift her head just enough to drop it back against the desk top.

“Hah! Take that, Ino-pig! True love conquers all!”

“I already knew I wasn’t going to be on the same team as Sasuke-kun, Billboard Brow!” Ino yelled back at the pink haired menace, most likely on reflex at this point. It still didn’t help in Toshiro’s opinion.

“Will you SHUT UP?!” Toshiro growled out, raising her head enough to shoot a glare at them both. “There are other teams to be announced, and your attempt at a pissing contest is only serving to piss me off, Pinky.” Ino, at least, looked ashamed of her outburst. Sakura, not so much.

“Shut it, Whitey,” Sakura snarled, glaring right back at Toshiro.

“EHEM!” Iruka loudly cleared his throat before Toshiro could do something stupid. Like launch herself at the pink menace. “If you two are quite done?”

“Hai, Iruka-sensei,” Toshiro ground out, before letting her muscles relax to loudly smack her head against the desktop. Why did she agree to do this again? Now Hyorinmaru was snickering at her.

• • •

That’s it.

Toshiro was going to kill that damn mutt.

Three. Hours. She had to spend three hours in the same room as the pink menace mooned and fawned over the angst whore while randomly trying to pick a fight with Toshiro and Naruto. How the girl was still alive and not frozen solid was anyone’s guess, if they didn’t know the best friends well enough. If they did, then they’d know that it was because Naruto had unsealed a Shogi board and was allowing himself to be placed at her tender mercy in the game. And was happily chatting in hushed tones about various seals that he was teaching himself how to make, even as he lost game after game. Toshiro was so glad that Naruto was willing to put up with the ice-cold game pieces and temperatures surrounding her, if only because it helped stop imminent destruction.

She was still going to kill the mutt.

Or maybe Pinky. She could make it look like a complete accident, if she was pushed to that point. All her prior and current training and experience would actually be put to good use.

Luckily, potential homicide was avoided by a puff of smoke at the front of the room. Kakashi stood right before the desk holding up two fingers in a wave with his stupid eye-smile on his face. “Hello, I’m here for–“

“YOU’RE LATE!” Sakura yelled, slamming a hand against a desk and pointing her other at the silver haired jounin.

Toshiro watched, amusement curling in her gut alongside the rage, as Kakashi stared at Sakura disinterestedly. “My first impression: my apprentice was right. I really don’t like you.”

Toshiro snorted and muttered, “Masochist.” Naruto snickered quietly, covering his mouth with his hand. The blonde flared a touch of chakra that sealed the board back away in the scroll the two had left beneath it. He then scooped it up and slid it into one of his various pockets.

“Meet me up on the roof in five minutes,” Kakashi said in the same bland tone of voice, before disappearing in the same manner in which he arrived. Before Sasuke or Sakura could even twitch, Naruto and Toshiro followed suit, leaving behind a cloud of smoke and chakra snow respectively.

“I’m going to steal your books and let Naruto use them for target practice with his wind jutsu’s,” Toshiro said upon appearing on the roof in front of Kakashi. “Late. You said ‘a little late.’ Three hours is not ‘a little late.’”

“Maa, Toshiro-kun, so mean,” their sensei pouted. "I just wanted to test the teams patience." Toshiro could still sense the amusement radiating off of him, though, mirrored by herself and Naruto. “So, how long do you think they’ll take?”

“Average guess considering their skill level and the high probability of you trapping the most obvious route and some of the other ones? Ten to fifteen minutes,” Naruto said, grinning widely.

Toshiro mirrored that grin with a slightly bloodthirsty one.

• • •

Twenty minutes later, Toshiro, Naruto, and Kakashi all had shit eating grins—or as close to it as they ever got—on their faces as their other teammates finally joined them on the roof. Sasuke had a heavy dusting of blue glitter in his hair, on his skin, and covering his shirt, and a few scratches that looked to be from barely-dodged blunted shuriken. Sakura was absolutely drenched in a mixture of colored glitters, making her look closer to a rainbow than a person. She also had a few scratches on her face and arms. She was also glaring holes at all three of them, probably thinking that Toshiro or Naruto had something to do with the traps.

Hah. Right. That was all the Mutt. Though he clearly took inspiration from Naruto with the glitter.

Toshiro didn’t move from her spot next to Kakashi on the railing, kicking her legs in a bored manner as their last two teammates sat down as far from Naruto as they could without being close to her. Kakashi clapped his hands together and did his stupid eye-smile again. “Well, I see you failed my first test for you with flying colors. I’d say well done, but you clearly don’t think beyond the most obvious path, and so my opinion of you just plummeted further than it was before. If this is the Academy’s best, then I am deeply offended.” He leaned heavily back on the railing Toshiro was sitting on and crossed his arms. “So, now that we’re here, how about some introductions. Thanks to my apprentice, here,” he jerked his head towards Toshiro, who waved, “and a briefing by the Hokage, I already know some things about all of you, but better safe than sorry, yes?”

“Why don’t you start, sensei, so we know what to do?” Sakura asked as sweetly as she could, obviously trying to butter Kakashi up while glaring daggers at Toshiro.

“Well. I’m Hatake Kakashi. You’re too young to know my likes. Same with my dislikes. I have a lot of hobbies. Dreams… haven’t really thought of them,” Kakashi said, tipping his head to the side. Toshiro could hear his inhale, as if to continue speaking, when–

“Dobe, how’d you know the **body flicker**?” Sasuke interrupted, glaring death at the blonde.

Naruto didn’t even look fazed by it. “Toshiro figured it out and taught me,” he said by way of explanation. In truth, it had taken him getting tree walking down before Naruto could even begin learning the **body flicker** , but it was easier to say that instead of going into the specifics. The blonde could, in fact, be taught discretion!

That glare transferred to Toshiro, who raised an eyebrow. “No,” she said blandly before he could even speak. “I won't teach you anything I know, and you can't force or intimidate me into it, either. However, since you feel the need to speak, why don’t you start, Duck Butt.”

The death glare worsened, and Toshiro fought the urge to yawn. He wasn’t even at Ibiki’s level, and she hadn’t been impressed with the Head of T&I either. Sasuke closed his eyes, grunted, and settled into his normal pose, glaring at the railing. “Uchiha Sasuke. I dislike a lot of things, and don’t like much of anything. My only hobby is training, and I don’t have a dream. Because I will make it happen. I will kill a certain someone, and rebuild my clan.”

Sakura swooned, hearts practically floating around her, as if he’d just said the most dreamy thing she could think of.

Naruto rolled his eyes and shook his head.

Kakashi just flinched slightly, not really noticeable unless you were right next to him.

Toshiro, though, blinked once, twice. “You are such a drama prince,” she muttered, shaking her head. He glared at her again, and all she could do was roll her eyes, this time giving into the urge to yawn. “Listen, I’ve seen where vengeance gets a person. Let me tell you, it’s not pretty.” It wound up with the person dead, most likely disgraced, and their soul either immediately hollowfied or dragged into Hell. “I’d stop while you’re ahead.”

“What do you know about vengeance, Whitey?” Sakura growled, joining her crush in glaring at Toshiro. She still flinched when the white-haired girl turned blank jade eyes at her.

“Apparently, more than either of you,” she deadpanned.

“Maa, maa, no need for arguing,” Kakashi said, clearly trying to stop a brawl from breaking out despite having been the one to exacerbate Sakura’s temper. “Well, since Sasuke’s gone, why don’t you go next, Pinky?”

Toshiro watched in some mild, internal, amusement as a vein began to pulse angrily on Sakura’s forehead before her face smoothed out. “I’m Haruno Sakura. My likes… well, the _person_ I like is…” She glanced towards Sasuke and smothered a giggle in what she must have thought was a cute manner. “My hobbies are…” Cue another set of smothered giggles. Sasuke was starting to look mildly disturbed. Toshiro didn’t blame him there. “And my dreams…” And cue loud fangirl squeal.

Toshiro could practically feel Kakashi twitch this time. “And your dislikes?” he asked, obviously trying to cover his resignation in boredom.

Sakura turned stony. “Ino-pig, Whitey, and Naruto-baka!”

Yep. The Mutt definitely twitched. “Okay, and next. Whiskers, you’re up.”

Naruto smiled sunnily, not put off by the now familiar nickname. Toshiro just wondered whether he’d drop his mask. She got her answer when he said, “My name’s Uzumaki Naruto! I like Toshiro-kun, her cooking, and ramen. I dislike veggies not made by Toshiro-kun, and people who can’t tell a storage scroll from a kunai. My hobbies are training, trying new ramen combinations, and working on my fuinjutsu. And my dream is to be the best Hokage this village has ever seen, dattebayo!” Toshiro blinked as the mask slid back into place there at the end, at least partially. Good tactic, mainly because what he’d said wasn’t a falsity, and most of it was well known information at this point. He did wish to become Hokage, it just wasn’t his full dream was all.

Sasuke didn’t even acknowledge the blonde with a grunt, while Sakura laughed. “Ha! Not with your grades, idiot!”

“Grades are not always a good measure of capabilities, Haruno-san,” Toshiro coldly stated. “For example, you made Top Kunoichi, and yet scored the lowest in taijutsu and weapons handling consistently, two areas in which a ninja must be well-versed in to remain alive out in the field.”

The glare had returned to her once more. Good. Toshiro could handle the pink menace better than Naruto could.

Before Kakashi, or Sakura, could start, Toshiro sighed and tipped her head back. “And I’m Hitsugaya Toshiro, Kakashi-sensei’s apprentice. I like winter, watermelons, and Naruto-kun. I dislike people who judge others for things outside of their control, and the Mutt’s favorite book series. My hobbies are training and playing Shogi with Shikamaru-kun and Shikaku-san. My dreams are, truth be told, absolutely none of your business, so don’t go asking about them,” she said, her voice dipping as cold as she could get it. She then blinked, playing into the role that she and Kakashi had spoken of before she arrived for the assignments, and turned her head towards Kakashi. “Speaking of Shogi, if you have anything for us planned for tomorrow morning, you might want to reschedule, or actually be on time for once. Shikaku-san said he had something important he wanted to speak with me about over a game.”

Kakashi glared darkly at her. “I’d say it’s a good thing, since what I had planned you are technically exempt from due to your status as my apprentice. However I know you, and you won’t ever abandon Naruto like that.” He sighed, and slumped forward as Toshiro shrugged. It’s not like it’s not true. “Ah, well. Guess we’ll just have to do this now.” He straightened up and looked at the three graduates evenly. “Come to Training Ground 7 in an hour, I have a survival exercise for you to complete.”

Toshiro quirked an eyebrow up as Sakura whined, “But we did plenty of those in the Academy!” Toshiro actually wasn’t thinking along those lines. She was wondering why Kakashi would say she was exempt from something that sounded like the entire team needed to go through it, not just the graduates. What was he playing at?

Kakashi’s shoulders began shaking from his dark chuckles. Toshiro suddenly got a really bad feeling, and a glance towards Naruto showed that he felt the same way. “I wasn’t gonna tell you this here, but I suppose there’s no point in waiting if we’re doing this tonight,” Kakashi said in a similar dark tone. “The test you just performed to graduate? Was to weed out those who aren’t ready, or are just incapable, of being a shinobi. The survival exercise is a test to see whether you three,” he pointed at the genin sitting in front of him, “will even keep those headbands in the first place. That’s why Toshiro is exempt from the test. Because as my apprentice, I have to guide her until I deem her ready for the chuunin exams.” Kakashi eye-smiled at them. “But don’t worry. I haven’t passed a single team yet. Perhaps, despite evidence to the contrary, you’ll be the first,” he finished brightly, reaching over and placing a hand on Toshiro’s shoulder. “So, Training Ground 7. One hour. Go get cleaned up and grab as many supplies as you can carry.”

With that, he **body flickered** himself and Toshiro away from the squawk of “WHAT?!” from Sakura.

• • •

• One Day Later •

The next day at ten, Kakashi shocked all of the jounin chosen to take on genin teams this year by actually being on time for a meeting, standing at attention next to Kurenai. He didn’t even have his book on his person, something that while they might not know still would have caused a few of them premature heart attacks if they did. He knew that Naruto was sleeping off the extra training that Toshiro made the blonde do until late last night (in an attempt to keep both their thoughts away from what happened during the bell test), and that his white haired apprentice was most likely already immersed in a competitive game of Shogi with Shikaku while discussing various points of her investigation, and probably also using the time to come to terms with what happened the day before.

Once all of the jounin were together, Hokage-sama called for their reports.

“Team One, fail.”

“Team Two, fail.”

“Team Three, fail. How did those kids even make it past graduation?”

“Team Four, fail. Same sentiment, Hokage-sama.”

“Team Five, fail.”

“Team Six, abysmal failure. They showed horrible teamwork skills.”

Hokage-sama was just nodding along with all of the short reports, and turned his gaze on Kakashi. The silver-haired Copy-nin took a deep breath.

“Team Seven. Fail, however I will take one as apprentice.”

A murmur broke out amongst the jounin. Kakashi also knew that he was getting the side-eye from both Kurenai and Asuma, since he’d already broken that promise to himself once already.

Hokage-sama quieted the murmuring with a single sharp look, before asking, “And which genin is it you plan to take as a second apprentice, Kakashi?”

Kakashi smirked under his mask, knowing that everyone was expecting him to say Sasuke. But there was no way. That boy had too much arrogance for him to ever be able to train him without a thorough breaking, and the Civilian Council had made it so that any such endeavor would require more time than Kakashi actually had available to him. So, it was with great pride that he stated his answer.

“Uzumaki Naruto, Hokage-sama.”

Silence.

If this was the rush Naruto got from pranking people, Kakashi could understand why his little brother got a kick out of it.

Kakashi just eye-smiled at the resigned glare that Hokage-sama had on his face. He had made his decision, and there was no way he was ever going to go back on it. Apparently, Hokage-sama understood this, since the elder just sighed and motioned for Kurenai to give her report.

She straightened from her shocked slump and tilted her chin up slightly. “Team Eight, pass.”

Asuma nodded his head and a ghost of a smile crossed his lips. “Team Ten, pass.”

Hokage-sama nodded his head. “Then the rest of you are dismissed. Kakashi, Kurenai, and Asuma, remain behind for your individual reports about those who did pass,” the old man ordered. All the jounin saluted before filing out of the office, many glancing back towards the infamous Copy-nin. Once the door closed, Hokage-sama flashed through a privacy jutsu and sighed once it was in place. Hokage-sama pinned Kakashi in place with a weary look. “You do realize the shit storm that the Civilian Council will rain down on your head, right, Kakashi?”

Kakashi eye-smiled even brighter than before. “Oh, they can and most certainly will try their hardest. However, all decisions in regards to the genin teams passing are under the jounin sensei’s discretion, and even then the jounin sensei must only report to the Hokage in regards to their team.” He then opened his eye, and from the sharp inhale Hokage-sama gave he figured he had a genuinely dark gleam in his eye. “Besides, after you hand them my written assessment and report, which I have on my person as we speak, on the massive _fuck-up_ of an _explosion_ I had to deal with in my genin test yesterday afternoon, there will be no room for them to argue. Not after reading that their precious Last Uchiha attempted to kill,” he heard Kurenai choke at that point, “both Uzumaki and Hitsugaya _during the test itself_ while they were only trying to get him to work with them. And the Council will also receive the reports of the three off-duty ANBU I called in favors from to watch over the test in case something like what happened occurred. Should they have issue with my report, considering ANBU are renowned for their accurate and detailed reports.. If what Uchiha had attacked had actually been Uzumaki and Hitsugaya, Uzumaki would have been eviscerated, and Hitsugaya her throat cut out brutally. Instead, they were shadow clones that he attacked. He then attempted to go after them both again when I passed down my verdict and decision regarding training Naruto, however he was already tied to a post and thus was unable to make a move. Those ANBU are keeping Uchiha under watch, along with a small squad that the Commander decided to place around the apartment building Uzumaki and Hitsugaya live in after they reported in.”

Hokage-sama looked thunderous at the report. “Oh really?” he rumbled. “And Haruno Sakura?”

Kakashi almost snorted. “Haruno is practically incompetent except in her intelligence. She couldn’t even break the genjutsu all Academy students are trained to recognize and break, despite a comment in her file about genjutsu being a specialty of hers. What’s more, she is malnourished and a fangirl. If I could, I would have banned her from returning to the Academy and kicked her completely out of the forces. If only because she was an insult to every kunoichi who takes their job seriously.” Kakashi eyed Kurenai out of the corner of his eye, knowing that his fellow jounin instructor was one of those very kunoichi. In fact, he was fairly certain that she was shaking from the urge to lash out, which was rare in the genjutsu specialist. She was the calm one of their group of friends, had to be to remain sane even with Anko as a best friend.

A murderous gleam entered Hokage-sama’s eye as he leaned forward and folded his hands in front of his face. “Well then, Kakashi, why don’t you leave your report here and begin the verbal report on your chosen apprentices’ performances."

Kakashi gleefully handed over the stack of paperwork to Hokage-sama, who despite his apparently barely controlled murderous temper looked at the fairly large stack with such distaste it made Kakashi all the more happy for his mask which hid the majority of his facial features. He then stepped back from the desk and fell into his impeccable professionalism (at least, whenever he needed to be impeccably professional). Time to effectively gush over the amazing work his cute little apprentice put into shaping Naruto up, and how thoroughly they thrashed him after the failed genin test and during that extra training session.

It was always good for his continued health to keep his terrified awe when it comes to his white-haired chibi apprentice.

Who would probably skin him if she ever found out he mentally called her that.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Comments? Kudos? They make up the fuel that keeps me writing!


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Zabuza makes the decision to come to Konoha at exactly the worst time.
> 
> The Civilian Council attempts to punish Naruto for, supposedly, manipulating Kakashi into failing Sasuke. It doesn't end how they want it to.

Zabuza had to hold in a disgusted snort as he cleaved the hunter nin’s head from his shoulders. Fifth one since he turned down Gato’s offer last week. Apparently, it was a good thing he decided that the pay was insulting, if the bastard had his hands in Kiri’s pockets like this. Honestly, fifty-five hundred ryo for him to kill a bridge builder. Who did that man think he was hiring, some third-rate genin team on a D-rank?

He took his time heading back to his hideout, making sure that if he was potentially being pursued that he confused them enough to lose them. He slipped inside the cottage he and Haku had holed up in and sighed, looking over at the young, sleeping teen. This was getting tiresome, and the hunter nin wouldn’t stop until Zabuza was dead or in another village.

He had heard some rumors of a young but skilled kenjutsu user in Konoha, one who also had some kind of Kekkei Genkai that related to ice. Maybe it was time they checked that out, and if they were able to see if Konoha had need of one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist and a powerful bloodline user.

Zabuza knelt down next to Haku and gently shook the boy awake. Once light brown eyes were focused enough to look at Zabuza questioningly, he said, “Pack up, we need to get moving.”

Haku nodded his head, already used to having to leave on such short notice. “Where are we headed, Zabuza-sama?”

Sighing, Zabuza scratched at his nose through the bandages. He really couldn’t believe he was doing this, but it really seemed for the best. “Konoha.” He weathered Haku’s shocked gaze while adding, “They’ve got a kid who seems to be on her way to being a kenjutsu master, and there was some talk of her having an ice Kekkei Genkai. Besides, if we play this right, we might not have to keep running all the time.” He shrugged. “And who knows, we might even get Mei some allies to help put down Yagura’s regime.”

Haku brightened, and nodded enthusiastically. “Hai, Zabuza-sama.”

Zabuza nodded, before looking away from the excited teen that was smiling like the sun itself at him. Instead of focusing on the weird flipping feeling in his chest, he packed what little of his belongings he had left unpacked. They never unpacked a lot when they found a safe place to hide out in, so it was very shortly after that they slipped out of the cottage, making sure that there was absolutely no trace of their usage of the small wooden construct as a safe roof over their heads.

The two shinobi were gone long before sunrise, disappearing into the mists.

• • •

The sun rose over the walls of Konoha just as the Civilian Council convened in the Hokage Tower. They were raving at the results of the genin tests, especially in the fact that Hatake didn’t follow their express orders of training the Last Loyal Uchiha-sama and chose to take the demon brat as his apprentice. How dare Hatake ignore their orders? They were the Council! They deserved respect!

Councilor Haruno turned to the ANBU in charge of guarding the Civilian Council when they were in session. “Get us Uzumaki Naruto on charges of manipulating a shinobi of this village into weakening the forces,” she ordered harshly.

The ANBU, a certain Mokuton user who wore the mask of a bird, bowed and **body flickered** away from the Civilian Council. But he didn’t go to the jinchuuriki’s apartment building.

Tenzo flared his chakra as he appeared in the Hokage’s office, glad that his leader was already in. He knelt down in front of Hokage-sama and said, “My apologies, Hokage-sama, however you wished to be informed when the Council attempted to make its move against Uzumaki-san.”

Hokage-sama’s chakra flared dangerously, and Tenzo barely held in a shiver at the KI that filled the room briefly. “I did, Tori. What are they attempting?”

“I received orders to detain Uzumaki-san on charges of willful manipulation of a shinobi of the village into weakening the Shinobi Forces,” Tenzo reported, keeping his head bowed out of respect and fear of seeing his leader’s thunderous expression. “Would you have counter-orders, Hokage-sama?”

“Inform Kakashi that his team has been requested by the Hokage to a meeting of the full council. Neko, Ryuu, contact the Shinobi Council and have them gather in the Council Chambers.” Two more ANBU dropped to the floor from the ceiling and bowed before disappearing to their duties. Tenzo rose and bowed before doing the same.

Oh, Senpai was not going to be happy about this…

• • •

Toshiro was so glad to have the chance to actually work on her zanpaktō abilities during the actual training. She had been holding back, since Naruto needed to work more on his kenjutsu before seeing what a zanpaktō was capable of. Or at least, what Hyorinmaru was capable of. Who knew what Kurama would be able to do once she finished the merging. But she was starting to hit another growth spurt in her power, and thus she needed some serious retraining of her skills, and probably another limiter just in case.

A flicker of reiatsu had Toshiro dropping her Shikai and turning towards where a semi-familiar ANBU stood. Kakashi turned his head and asked, “Something we can help you with, Tori?” Toshiro blinked. Oh. The other ANBU from when she first arrived.

“Hokage-sama has requested that your team come for a meeting of the full Council, Senpai. I have been tasked with escorting the three of you to the Chambers,” a deep voice said, the masked man bowing slightly to Kakashi as he did.

Toshiro glanced over to Naruto, who had come up beside her after she dropped out of her Shikai. What could the Council want with them? Or were they finally making their move after what happened two days ago?

Kakashi sighed, his shoulders slumping. “So, they finally made their move, eh? Well, come on my cute apprentices. Don’t want to keep Hokage-sama waiting,” he said, his voice wistful. He started towards the ANBU, Tori according to Kakashi, which had Naruto falling in behind their sensei. Toshiro sighed as she sheathed Hyorinmaru and began to follow.

She was really starting to hate politics. At least this way she could get a visual on those who she had the most trouble getting any dirt on in her investigations.

• • •

Hiruzen noted with a smirk that the Civilian Council was noticeably shocked and terrified when he stepped into the chambers and calmly made his way to his seat. Their terror only rose as, one by one, the Shinobi Council joined them, looking varying degrees of smug and disgruntled. Finally, a minute after the last councilor entered, the doors opened one last time, allowing what Hiruzen was contemplating renaming Team Kakashi into the chambers.

He waited until the doors were closed before turning a furious gaze towards the Civilian Council. “Which of you decided to overstep your limits and attempt to try a shinobi under my command on a shinobi-related charge?” he rumbled, causing the entire Shinobi Council to freeze up and send poisonous glares to the Civilian half.

Most of the Civilians quailed under the glares, but the pink-haired Haruno matriarch managed to hold up under them as she stood. “I was the one to give the order, Hokage-sama, however you cannot expect us to remain quiet on this matter. There should be no way that that demon got chosen over Uchiha-sama through fair means. He had to have manipulated Hatake somehow!”

Hiruzen glanced over to Team Kakashi as the room suddenly became ice cold. Naruto was frozen, though that was more his muscles than the ice that was starting to creep over the walls near them. Kakashi himself was leaking out almost all of his KI while glaring kunai at Haruno. Hitsugaya, though…

Hitsugaya looked ready to murder someone. Her expression was blank, though her eyes were flashing emerald in barely controlled rage.

Hiruzen prayed to Kami that she held her temper in and just let him handle this mess.

He cleared his throat, which snapped the white-haired apprentice into reigning in her control over the temperature, before fixing Councilor Haruno with as vicious a glare as he could muster. “I can and I will, Councilor Haruno. In fact, Inoichi, indulge the Civilians and check for mental manipulations on Kakashi before he gives a full verbal report of this years Team 7 genin test.”

“Hai, Hokage-sama,” Inoichi said. He calmly stood and walked around the table to Kakashi, who stepped forward. Shikaku stood just behind Inoichi to prop his former teammate up while he performed the necessary jutsu. “ **Shitenshin no Jutsu!** ” At once, Inoichi went limp while Kakashi tensed up. It took barely a minute before Inoichi was shaking himself off and turning back to Hiruzen, looking slightly green as he did. “Jounin Hatake is clear of all means of mental manipulation, Hokage-sama.”

Hiruzen nodded once, before motioning the two Council members back to their seats. Once they were seated, he looked over to Kakashi. “Report,” he said shortly.

Kakashi sighed and nodded. He straightened his shoulders, and leveled his single coal eye to just over Hiruzen’s right shoulder.

• • •

_Kakashi scanned the clearing and surrounding forest. Well, at least they had the right idea of getting away from the threat and surveying the battlefield before attempting an attack. And they even gave a meager attempt at hiding their chakra from him, how cute. Sakura was the hardest to find, though that was more because of her having the smallest reserves than any actual skill. As expected, Naruto’s was the easiest to find by far, though the blonde seemed to have gotten far better at chakra control than a mere two months ago. He wasn’t as much of a burst of uncontrolled light that was strong enough to potentially blind a Hyuuga as he had been. Kakashi actually wasn’t surprised when his and Toshiro’s opposing chakra signatures remained in close quarters. The two were joined at the hip, it wasn’t all together odd that they decided to gang up on little old him._

_He frowned when he sensed them create two shadow clones each before disappearing altogether. Shrugging minutely, Kakashi decided to observe what his cute little apprentice and his little brother were planning on attempting, and made a shadow clone himself. He sent the clone off to follow the pair heading towards Sakura, while he did the same with the pair making a beeline towards where Sasuke was. Of the two, the Uchiha would be the hardest to convince, and the most violent if pushed._

_Turned out Kakashi was right to be worried._

_The Naruto and Toshiro clones caught Sasuke in a pincer move, and were trying to convince him to work with them, citing how Kakashi was an elite jounin and that in a one-on-one scenario they, as genin, wouldn’t be able to beat him. Of course, Sasuke didn’t take this very well, and thought that the two who he perceived to be clanless losers were just there to insult him and take up the time he could be spending on hunting Kakashi down and getting the bells. So, he yelled at them that he didn’t need their help, because he was an elite and thus only needed himself to complete a task. Kakashi shook his head, nope, no hope there. It would take a miracle to get that boy to work with this team._

_Kakashi was momentarily distracted by his shadow clone popping, informing him that the clones it followed had similar troubles with Sakura, who had just ran off to try and find Sasuke. The original shadow clone was going to test Sakura while Kakashi was busy. That moment of distraction was all that was needed for him to almost miss what happened next._

_The Naruto clone tried one last time to convince Sasuke to accept their help, which seemed to cause something in the black-haired boy to snap. Sasuke pulled out a kunai from his pouch and lunged at the Naruto clone, stabbing it in the stomach before ripping the kunai up and twisting it at an angle. With more pressure, the kunai punctured the clone’s heart. Sasuke didn’t even notice when the clone dissipated, since he then had the Toshiro clone on him to defend against. It took several overpowered Katon jutsu before he pinned the Toshiro clone to a tree with a few shuriken and used the opportunity to shove his kunai into her throat, slicing straight across the jugular and voice box. He sneered at the clone before racing off, moments before the clone turned into a small pile of snowflakes._

_Kakashi was frozen. Never before had he seen such actions towards those who were supposed to be your comrades. He had to cut this test short._

_Before Toshiro went and killed Sasuke._

• • •

When Kakashi finished retelling the main incident and reason for his failing the team, the Council Chamber was in total silence. He took a moment to center himself and quash the rising rage at the thought of that stupid, idiotic, revenge-driven pampered prince of a genin hurting his precious little apprentices like that, before he continued. “I engaged Uchiha in a taijutsu bout before catching him with the **Headhunter Jutsu** and knocking him out with a sleep genjutsu.

“By then, my shadow clone had already found that the file on one Haruno Sakura was highly incorrect, considering she was unable to tell that she had been trapped in the very same genjutsu that the Academy uses to test the cadets on their detection and release skills, and had brought her to the posts in Training Ground 7. Considering she fainted due to whatever she saw in the genjutsu, I was given enough time to tie them both to the posts before going to find Apprentice Uzumaki and Apprentice Hitsugaya to inform them of the end of the test.

“Shortly after their shadow clones popped, Apprentice Uzumaki activated his Uzumaki Bloodline of Yin Release, and had utilized the resulting Chakra Sealing Chains to keep Apprentice Hitsugaya subdued until I went to collect them. By that time, Apprentice Hitsugaya had regained control of her temper, and was able to be in Uchiha’s presence without attempting retribution. Once Uchiha and Haruno were conscious again, I informed former Team 7 that they failed the exercise and would all be sent back to the Academy, with the exception of Apprentice Uzumaki. The Hokage has my full written report handed in during the Jounin Sensei meeting yesterday at 1000 hours should the Council wish to read it, along with the reports of three off-duty ANBU who had been willing to oversee the test.” He bowed to the Council and sighed. Now for the truly grueling part.

The Civilian Council immediately began shouting over each other, all attempting to give some justification or throw some insult or accusation against what Kakashi said. The Shinobi Council was glaring at their Civilian counterparts, despite how some of them felt about Naruto he was now a Shinobi of Konoha and as such a comrade whom they may need to work alongside in the future. The Hokage was silent, while his two advisors Koharu and Homura were joining the Civilians, as they always did. Danzo was silent, too, though he was also eyeing both of Kakashi’s apprentices in a fashion that raised Kakashi’s hackles. The part of his brain that was closer to a wolf was growling at a threat to his pack, and it took all of Kakashi’s willpower to not glare at Danzo in retaliation for those considering and assessing looks.

This was going to be a long day.

• • •

Hiruzen slammed a hand down on the table in front of him when the Civilian Council hadn’t quieted down after ten minutes of yelling and making absurd ideas and demands. When that didn’t work completely, he flared his KI a bit, and that got the rest to shut their traps. Once he had their attention, he made sure to meet each and every one of the Civilian Council’s eyes. “All of you do realize that you are currently treading very close to treasonous speech, yes?” he quietly asked, keeping his level of KI leakage even. The entire council tensed at those words, even as he continued. “Your constant attempts to sabotage this village’s Jinchuuriki will end. Now. The Uchiha heir is to be brought in for a thorough mental examination by Yamanaka ANBU, Danzo you will keep your greedy little hands off of this case, am I understood?” He glared at his old rival, who didn’t even flinch.

“Why Hiruzen, I disbanded ROOT just like you ordered, there is no need for such a harsh warning,” Danzo said smoothly, his eyes still locked on Hitsugaya and Naruto. Hiruzen gritted his teeth.

“Be that as it may, the disturbing disappearances of various orphans from the multiple orphanages after your visits to them leave quite an obvious trail. Hands off policy, understood?” Hiruzen caught and held Danzo’s eye, and stared him down until he reluctantly nodded, which might as well have been an admission of guilt. “Good.

“Now then, if the Uchiha heir is found to be unstable, he shall be handed over to T&I for reconditioning, and then sent back into the Academy for the retraining year. As of this point on, the Civilian Council will have no interactions with the Uchiha, or have others interact with him for them. If I have to, I will ensure that the Uchiha does not interact with any civilian that had not been a shinobi prior to returning to civilian life.” He glared at those who attempted to cry out at the edict. “If it weren’t for the fact that the two apprentices in Team Kakashi knew the **Kage Bunshin** , then Uchiha would have killed our two most promising shinobi since Namikaze Minato and Uzumaki Kushina. What’s more, we would have lost my best shot at a successor that actually wants the job and wouldn’t have to be tricked or bullied into it!”

That admission seemed to shock the entire Council, though Danzo looked angered. Honestly, his old rival didn’t seem to realize that they were getting to old to be anything more than advisors to the next generation.

“Kakashi would most likely defect should I even mention offering him the position as successor, Jiraiya’s spy network is too important for him to take up the hat, even if he wanted it in the first place, and Tsunade, while the best bet out of the three, has sworn to never return and would have to be dragged back to Konoha either kicking and screaming or because she lost a bet,” Hiruzen listed off quickly. “Danzo, you’re my age, and I’m getting too old for this job. You wouldn’t be a wise choice to make, even if I were to do so. None of the other shinobi would make good choices, Shikaku has turned me down before so don’t even bring it up Homura, which leaves me with Naruto.”

“We would never allow such a travesty to occur!” one of the more vocal Civilian’s shouted, only to yelp as all of the Shinobi in the room, various ANBU included, directed their KI in his direction.

From how both Naruto and Kakashi wrinkled their noses, something told Hiruzen that the Councilor soiled himself in his fear.

Hiruzen shook his head. “You would have no say in the decision to begin with. That is left solely up to the Hokage, while the Shinobi Council may provide advice and suggestions on the matter. Now then, I do believe that that covers everything.” He stood, forcing the Council to as well. “Council adjourned, and I would hope, Civilian Councilmen, that you do not attempt to go behind my back, much less attempt to order one of _my_ Shinobi, again.”

With that, Hiruzen walked as calmly as he could out of his office, gesturing for Team Kakashi to follow him.

• • •

Naruto… didn’t quite know how to react to what he just witnessed.

He made sure to keep quiet, despite the numerous questions that were buzzing through his head, especially after Jiji admitted that Naruto was his best chance for successor to the Hokage position. That was just… unreal. To the extreme. He was also shaking off the creepy vibes he had gotten from that Danzo guy in the bandages. He remembered glimpsing that man a few times when he’d still been in the orphanage, and shivered as he tried to imagine just what kind of hell those kids he took had to have gone through. It had to be bad, if Jiji wanted to keep the Teme out of Danzo’s hands.

The blonde glanced over to Toshiro, and forced himself to not shiver from the murderous gleam in her jade eyes. He didn’t know whose murder she was planning, but at least it wasn’t his own. Of that, he was certain. She liked him too much to think of killing him.

Team Kakashi (as apparently the Jounin and his apprentices had been labeled) filed into the Hokage’s office. Naruto slipped in last, and carefully closed the door behind him after checking to see if anyone else would be immediately joining them. Jiji waited until Naruto had stepped away from the door before flashing through a privacy jutsu. Once that was set in place, Jiji just kinda sighed and sagged in his chair. “That was not how I expected informing the Council of my decision. Honestly, I was hoping for a bit more time before having to make that announcement,” Jiji said, rubbing at his forehead as he did. Naruto ran up to the other side of the desk and hugged Jiji tightly.

“It’s okay, Jiji,” he murmured into the Hokage robes. “I get it. You wanted to make sure I was mature enough and had enough experience before dropping that on them.” Jiji sighed and wrapped his arms around Naruto’s shoulders.

“No, no I think this will work out better in the long run,” Jiji said quietly. “But thank you for understanding, Naruto.”

Naruto pulls back and smiles sunnily at Jiji. “Course I understand, Jiji! I know I’m not ready to take the hat from you!”

Jiji returns the smile with a soft one of his own, before glancing up at Kakashi. “I guess that just means your sensei had better get you up to speed quickly. I’m not getting any younger, you know.”

Kakashi gave an ANBU salute in reply to that. “Any specific orders, Hokage-sama, or should I just put them through the grinder?”

Toshiro glared at him. “Them?”

Kakashi just gave her a faux-innocent look. “Of course! It would be rather unfair if I trained one of my apprentices into the dirt while the other was left to her own devices! Besides,” Naruto was fairly certain he could see the shit-eating grin on Kakashi’s face, “like you’d let Naruto go through that all on his own.”

The two had a staring contest, causing Naruto to smother his giggles, before Toshiro huffed and looked away. “Whatever,” she muttered, pouting slightly. She glanced to Jiji and tilted her head. He gave a weary sigh, but nodded. Naruto blinked at the silent communication, but figured that it had to be important if Toshiro was asking permission. “I’ll get to work investigating the Council, might as well do the full group all at once after that little show. Shikaku-san has my findings on the Academy and those stores setting their own prices and taxes, if you wish to do something about those areas.” Naruto felt like his eyes were bugging out. What?

Jiji nodded. “Good, that’s a good idea. Try to find everything you can about Danzo and his ROOT division. I know that they didn’t actually disband, however much beyond that is unknown to me.”

Toshiro nodded her head sharply. “Understood, Hokage-sama. Is there a deadline for when you wish to have this information?”

“Preferably before the next Chuunin Exams in three months. Will that be enough time?”

A sharp grin crossed Toshiro’s face. “Plenty, Hokage-sama. With that, I should have just enough time to not only get quality information, but quantity as well.” She bowed and added, “I shall hand over whatever findings I gain concrete evidence for to Shikaku-san, as we have arranged, Hokage-sama.”

Naruto looked between his best friend and his Jiji, before finally settling his gaze on Kakashi. Okay, he was so going to grill his silver brother and white sister for just what was going on here later, when they were alone and he could yell at them for keeping things from him.

Again.

• • •

Haku smiled as the Konoha gates came into view. Zabuza-sama drove a fast pace to get to the village before sunset, and they finally returned to civilian pace on the road headed toward the gate. It was safe, at least from Kiri hunter nin, and since Zabuza-sama and himself have given no hostile intentions their tail had no reason to take them out, despite the large bounty on Zabuza-sama’s head.

Finally, they had the chance to start over, settle down. And potentially finding someone with a similar bloodline to Haku was exciting. The effeminate boy grinned as he followed behind the swordsman.

This shouldn’t be too bad.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> If you like it, please leave a comment or kudos! They are my lifeblood!


	3. Chapter 3

The day didn’t seem to be over for the old Hokage.

Hiruzen let his breath gust out of his lungs, and glared at his eternal enemy: stacks upon stacks of paperwork. How Minato ever got through all of it so quickly, Hiruzen didn’t know. Honestly, the Hokage should not have to do all of this paperwork. But he couldn’t delegate to anyone else, because most of those papers needed his signature only, and given the opportunity the Civilian Council would love to be able to slip laws that would allow them to discriminate against Naruto past him. And thus Hiruzen was stuck with this, on top of whatever matters his shinobi bring to him.

Such as what was now standing right in front of his desk. Or perhaps, more like who.

Momochi Zabuza, the Demon of the Mist and one of the Seven Swordsman, and a boy who only gave the name Haku, an apparent survivor of the Kiri Bloodline Purges. Both of whom were requesting to join Konoha’s shinobi forces.

Hiruzen would almost rather have to deal with the paperwork…

After a mental shake of his head, Hiruzen focused his gaze onto the missing nin in front of him. It would certainly strengthen Konoha’s forces if he accepted Zabuza into them, definitely if the boy is accepted as well. It was a risk, what with the political situation with Kiri, considering Zabuza was one of their missing nin. But this way, Konoha got another S-rank shinobi in their ranks, and who knows what sort of rank this Haku would have.

He nodded once. Leaning forward, Hiruzen folded his hands together. “If I allowed the both of you into Konoha’s forces, what could you offer in return, and what kind of observation would you permit?”

Zabuza shifted slightly, drawing Hiruzen’s permission. “I have contact with Mei Terumi, the leader of the rebellion against the current Mizukage. If Konoha was willing to lend aid, financial and/or medical, she’d be willing to broker a peace treaty between Kiri and Konoha in exchange.” Hiruzen mentally raised an eyebrow, filing the information away. That would be useful, having another treaty, potentially an alliance should negotiations work out that way, with Kiri would help in the long run. “Haku’s got a fairly strong ice Kekkei Genkai, a good grasp of basic and advanced first aid, he’s been faster than me for the past two years, and is a damn good shot with his senbon. Me well, what’s in the bingo book is a good starting point.” Hiruzen tilted his head in acknowledgement of that. The master of silent killing, even with the sword that’s about as tall as he is, and very skilled in various Suiton and other basic Kiri signature jutsu. Definitely nothing to sneeze at, especially when paired with this Haku, who apparently was not accustomed to hearing something that could resemble a compliment if the flush was anything to go on. What’s more, Zabuza specifically said senbon, which means that Haku had perfect accuracy, and excellent knowledge of human anatomy.

Haku stepped forward and bowed slightly. “As for observation, Hokage-sama, whatever you decide for myself is acceptable. I understand that due to my age, I would classify as a genin, despite having skills above genin level, and thus would most likely be placed under a jounin sensei.” Hiruzen actually let an eyebrow jerk up at that. Yes, Haku only looked to be around fourteen, at the most, and being placed in a genin team would also help the younger get accustomed to how Konoha operated, along with the mere rhythm of the village itself. He glanced over to Zabuza, who looked unaffected by Haku’s admission. So the elder of the two also understood this.

Hmm, maybe an exception can be made… Yes, that would do.

Hiruzen let his hands rest against his desk top. “In that case, I have just the team for you to join.” Both shinobi in front of him jerked, as if they hadn’t actually been expecting him to agree. Hiruzen gave them a close-lipped smile. “Understand now, your sensei would be an ex-ANBU captain, and that you would be placed under two months of ANBU observation should you accept. One of my jounin recently took on two apprentices from the recent graduating class, instead of taking his assigned genin team. If you joined, you would also be taking apprenticeship under him, since the other two are already filed.” And because Hiruzen wanted to see if that would push Kakashi to actually not being perpetually late and lazy all the time. “Zabuza, you would be put under the two month observation as well, and would be permitted to train alongside the team Haku would be placed in.”

Zabuza tilted his head curiously. “What’s the catch?” he asked slowly.

“The team is composed of the village jinchuuriki and a girl whose entire background is an S-rank secret,” Hiruzen intoned gravelly.

Zabuza tensed up, while Haku’s eyes widened. The two shared a look, before Zabuza nodded. “Right. Where do we sign?”

Hiruzen held in his grin until he turned around to fetch the necessary paperwork. When he turned around, he passed the stacks over, and then looked over to where he knew Tori was once again hiding. “Inform Kakashi that I require his presence once more.” Tori dropped down from the ceiling, bowed, and left.

• • •

Kakashi was seriously wondering just what else could be going wrong when Tenzo showed back up and informed him that Hokage-sama needed him _again_. This time, he just told Toshiro and Naruto to take the rest of the day off, and to be back at the training grounds at six the next morning. From the grin on his blonde apprentice’s face, he got the feeling that the day would end with several people humiliated. Toshiro at least managed to keep her composure, but considering her current B-rank assignment, she was probably going to gather and distill enough information to ruin several individuals before the day was out.

He couldn’t be more proud of his terrifying apprentices.

Instead of using the door, Kakashi slung himself onto the sill of the window, flaring his chakra so he wasn’t attacked. He weathered the glare from Hokage-sama with practiced ease. “You called, Hokage-sama?” he asked, paying close attention to the two others in the office without looking their way. Momochi Zabuza, what was he doing here? And who was the girl that was with him? Wait, were they both filling in the shinobi forces paperwork?

“There is a door for a reason, Kakashi,” Hokage-sama said. Kakashi was sure he probably should be about ten feet under just from the glare that was directed his way. “However, now that you’re here, I’d like for you to meet the third member of your team, Haku. He’s a survivor of the Kiri bloodline purges that has been travelling alongside Momochi Zabuza for six years now. Additionally, Zabuza will be allowed to train with your team, and your team only, during his two month observation period before joining the main forces.” Kakashi nodded his head, understanding that the decision had already been made, and thus it was out of his hands.

Wait. That was a boy?

Very pretty boy. Okay, then.

Kakashi stood up from where he’d been sitting on the windowsill and eye-smiled at the two. “Well then, welcome to Konoha. Training will start at six tomorrow morning at Training Ground 7. I take it you have been informed of part of the circumstances of your two new teammates, Haku?”

Haku nodded once. “The Kyuubi jinchuuriki and a girl whose background is an S-rank secret, yes?”

Kakashi rubbed at the back of his neck. “Sheesh, only the bare bones, but we can work with that. Yes, those are my terrifying little apprentices.” Zabuza snorted at that. Kakashi rolled his eye. “I’m fairly certain you’ve heard rumors of Hitsugaya Toshiro, the ‘prodigy’ who’s well on her way to being a kenjutsu master despite being ten years old?”

Zabuza’s head snapped up at that. “Wait, she’s only ten? I wasn’t that good at that age.”

“Well, physically she’s ten, but yes. She’s also got an absolutely terrifying connection with anything involving winter that’s practically a Kekkei Genkai,” Kakashi stated. “Then, there’s Naruto, the half-blooded Uzumaki jinchuuriki who just activated his chakra chain bloodline two days ago.” Zabuza was giving him what might have been a horrified look had it been on anyone else. “Yeah, they’re a couple chakra powerhouses.”

Haku stared for a minute, before turning back to the paperwork, which looked to be mostly completed. Huh, well, that was good.

Hm. How should Kakashi handle this tomorrow? And should he inform his cute little apprentices of their new teammate?

As if reading his mind, Hokage-sama spoke up. “I’m fairly certain there is an apartment set up in the same building as Naruto and Hitsugaya-kun that Zabuza and Haku could take, at least until their observation period is over and Zabuza can start taking missions.” Kakashi nodded.

“Then I can just show you two to the building and introduce you to the other two. At least, if they’re there.”

“Why wouldn’t they be?” Zabuza asked.

Kakashi shrugged, almost feeling like chuckling. “Well–“

BOOM!

He turned around, and sighed at the cloud of yellow smoke rising from the market district. “I only just left them not five minutes ago,” he said, defeated.

Hokage-sama hadn’t even turned around, just rubbing at the bridge of his nose. “That blasted adopted grandson of mine took too much after his mother. Oh, the paperwork this will cause,” he muttered. Kakashi raised a shoulder.

“Eh, remember how sensei got when he was feeling particularly vindictive, Hokage-sama? I think Naru-chan just got a mix between the two, on top of sensei’s genius,” he said, before turning back to the other two shinobi, who were just staring out the window in shock. “Naruto has a bad habit of pranking those who piss him off. I’m fairly certain quite a few of the Civilian Council members will count amongst his ‘victims’ from his latest prank.” He tilted his head. “Though that just makes me wonder what they did to piss him off two months ago when he managed to hide those glitter bombs in the Council chambers.” Hokage-sama shivered harshly at the reminder. Kakashi tilted his head towards Hokage-sama, and blinked as he realized something. “Also, why haven’t you tried using **Kage Bunshin**? I know Naruto and Toshiro-kun both abuse it in their training, it should also work with just a couple on your paperwork.”

Hokage-sama’s elbow slipped off the desk, slamming his head against the desk. A stack of papers was jostled from the impact, the majority slipping and falling to the floor.

Kakashi got the distinct impression that they probably shouldn’t be there for much longer, unless they wished to watch Hokage-sama have a temporary lapse in sanity.

“So, you two have finished, right? Wonderful, let’s just hand this off to the secretary and I’ll show you to the apartment building.” Kakashi quickly herded the formerly missing nin and his new student out of the office, making certain that the door was securely latched behind them. He sighed heavily, before looking to the two he just effectively manhandled out of the danger zone. “He’s been trying to find the solution to the paperwork problem for twelve years now, that was about to be very dangerous if we remained,” he said by way of explanation for his actions. “Now, I was quite serious about the apartment.”

Zabuza snorted and shook his head. “Who knew you Konoha ninja were just as crazy as us Kiri.”

Kakashi eye-smiled at the other shinobi. “We’re shinobi, it comes with the job.”

• • •

Toshiro blinked as new information from one of her clones filtered into her mind. Mutt-sensei, with two shinobi she’s never seen outside of a Bingo Book (Shikaku gave it to her shortly after the Mizuki incident), heading towards the apartment building over the rooftops. She blinked slowly, before shaking her head. The two others had brand new Konoha headbands, so she wasn’t going to question it. Instead, she handed off her information gathering task to one of her clones, and began pulling out enough food to feed ten people. Iruka-sensei was expected for tonight, and Naruto normally ate for three anyways. Any left over can go towards lunch the next day, or as a late night snack if she was still up working on her information gathering.

If there was any left over, that was.

A few minutes later, a second burst of information signaled that a clone got close enough to listen in, since the three of them were going civilian speed through the streets. Apparently, the younger of the two shinobi, Haku, was going to be their new teammate. Huh, they’d actually have a semi-standard team set-up in two shinobi one kunoichi most of the time. And apparently Haku had an ice Kekkei Genkai. That would work well with Toshiro’s abilities, and compliment Naruto’s most likely fire-based zanpaktō once Kurama goes through the merging. She’s been preparing for it for about a month and a half now, two more months and it should start. Hm, Toshiro had better inform Kakashi-sensei that Naruto may need to spend some time away from the village during that period. Who knew how that might turn out.

“ _Considering the damage Kurama caused, Little One, it would be for the best. Her energy will be lashing out while the merging occurs, and many here still recognize the feel of it_ ,” Hyorinmaru commented. Toshiro bowed her head in acknowledgement of her dragon’s words, finalizing the decision.

She made another clone and sent her out to find Naruto from wherever he was pranking now to inform him he had one hour, and that Kakashi-sensei was bringing a new teammate and an extra over, probably for a meeting. She was going to be dragging them in for a dinner, though, no matter what.

With the help of a second clone, Toshiro managed to get the majority of dinner ready by the time Kakashi knocked on the door. The clone that had taken over the information gathering had already cleared off the table, and took over where Toshiro was in the kitchen while she answered the door.

She raised an eyebrow at her sensei, ignoring the other two for now. “Thanks for the warning, Mutt-sensei. Naruto and Iruka-sensei should be here in another ten minutes for dinner. You’re all invited.” She then opened the door and stepped to the side, allowing the three to come in. Toshiro eyed the large sword on the bulky man’s back, and wondered if he knew how to use it. The answer was most probably, considering that this was Zabuza, the purported Demon of the Mist. Who now was a Konoha shinobi.

Almost as hilarious as a soul reaper being a shinobi.

Almost.

Zabuza sniffed the air loudly as he toed off his shoes. “You cooked that?”

Toshiro shrugged. “It’s relaxing. Besides, I had help.” Kakashi shook his head and seemed to smile under his mask.

“Toshiro-kun is capable of abusing **Kage Bunshin** right alongside Naru-chan,” the silver-haired brat said. Toshiro just rolled her eyes and walked towards the kitchen once more.

“You’re the one who decided that teaching two Academy students the jutsu was a good idea,” she called over her shoulder, keeping track of where the three’s reiatsu was. Haku’s was calming, Zabuza’s a chaotic mist, and Kakashi’s tempered lightning on the senses. Haku was following behind Toshiro, his reiatsu feeling inquisitive and curious. She paused just inside the kitchen and turned to the two new shinobi. “Apologies. Hitsugaya Toshiro, don’t call me cute, short, or chan and I won’t have to introduce your face to my foot,” she said, bowing in their direction.

When she straightened up, Haku was smiling, as if such threats were par for the course. “Haku. It’s a pleasure to meet you, Hitsugaya-san. I hear you have a Kekkei Genkai focused on winter?”

Toshiro lifted one shoulder, a motion she picked up from Kakashi. “Close enough to one,” she said, before holding up a hand to stop Zabuza. “I own a Bingo Book, Momochi-san.”

Zabuza chuckled. “A well informed student you have here, Hatake. I wonder if she’s really as good as the rumors say.”

“We shall see, won’t we?” Toshiro mused, turning back to the dinner. “Mutt-sensei, could you get the plates out? I don’t feel like having to scale the counters or walls right now.”

“Maa, Toshiro-kun, putting your sensei to work like this, how rude,” Kakashi said out of reflex, even as the Jounin moved to do as requested.

“If you want rude, I can start threatening your trash romance novel collection again,” she said lightly. Turning her head to look over her shoulder, she said, “Make yourselves at home, please. Something tells me we’ll be spending a lot of time in close quarters, if Mutt-sensei brought you here first thing.”

“And you know it was first thing how?” Zabuza challenged, even as he removed his sword from his back and leant it against a wall.

Toshiro raised an eyebrow. “Sensei just said I can abuse **Kage Bunshin** , a B-rank forbidden jutsu that most jounin cannot perform, and those that can are only capable of one or two at a time. I’m also a paranoid person by nature, and have at least ten clones hiding around the city at any one time. Not even the patrols have found them yet, and I’ve been here for two months.”

Zabuza stared at her, even as she turned back to working on dinner. After a minute of staring, he finally asked, “Okay, where did you find this gaki, Hatake?”

Kakashi gave Toshiro a significant look. She shook her head. “Naruto figured out permanent privacy seals, somehow. Both apartments are safe as long as windows and doors are closed.” He nodded before turning around with the plates and walking to the table.

“Oh, she fell out of an inter-dimensional gate in the Hokage’s office to escape someone who would have torn her soul to shreds and forced her to give him children because of an accident of birth,” he said, almost happily. If there was one thing constantly giving bullshit excuses for being late was good for, it was making the truth sound absolutely trivial and nonsensical. Honestly, that man was a master bullshitter.

“You’ve gotta be joking!” Zabuza said, scoffing.

“Eh, most of the time, but not about this. I should know, I was there when she stumbled out of the gate.”

Oh, she wished that she could have seen Zabuza’s face. That sounded like an impressive choke.

• • •

Naruto grinned brightly. Toshiro was making dinner, Iruka-nii-san was joining them, and Kakashi-sensei was going to be there as well! And was bringing a new teammate with him! Hopefully they weren’t like Teme or Sakura, he didn’t feel like having to deal with a demon hater. But Jiji probably assigned the new teammate to them, and thus Jiji wouldn’t do anything that could hurt Naruto.

Even though he probably caused the old man a large amount of paperwork with those pranks.

But this was so much better than how the team assignment day ended!

He sped up when he caught sight of Iruka-nii-san, jumping onto his back with a cry of, “Nii-san!” As was their routine whenever Naruto was the first one to spot the other.

Iruka-nii-san laughed as he secured his hands under Naruto’s knees. “Otouto, you’re getting a bit heavy to keep doing this, you know,” Iruka-nii-san said. Naruto pouted.

“Meh, then you need to work on your training more, Iruka-nii! What if you get sent on a mission, and get hurt, or don’t come back?” He tightened his hold on Iruka-nii-san’s neck slightly. “I don’t wanna lose you, nii-san.”

Naruto knew that pulling this card might be dirty, but it was also the truth. He didn’t want to risk losing his nii-san any more than he already was, if Iruka-nii-san was ever given a mission outside the village despite being a chuunin instructor.

Iruka-nii-san seemed to understand this, because he sighed, shoulder slumping heavily. “Toshiro-kun has taught you emotional manipulation well, otouto. Fine, I’ll get back to training more often.” Naruto nodded once before shoving his face in his nii-san’s shoulder, trying to ignore the glares he was receiving. He didn’t say anything as Iruka-nii-san finally broke and took to the rooftops. It would be quicker that way, anyways.

They made their way to Naruto’s apartment building in comfortable silence, Iruka-nii-san landing right outside Toshiro’s door. Naruto dropped to the ground and pulled out the spare key she gave him when she moved into the apartment next to his. He swiftly unlocked the door and opened it, grin back in place. “Toshiro-kun, we made it!” he called out as he entered, toeing off his sandals with ease while cerulean eyes wandered over the others in the apartment. Kakashi-sensei, as expected, was setting out utensils on the table, and Naruto didn’t even see his stupid orange book anywhere for once! The big guy sitting on the couch was a little scary, but Naruto had seen Toshiro’s Bankai form and the destruction that could cause (Kakashi-sensei kept slipping in what nickname he used, and often pissed Toshiro off at the worst of times), so he wasn’t really as bad as he could have been. That left…

Naruto gave the teen that looked to be only a year or two older than himself a bright smile. “You must be our new teammate! Uzumaki Naruto, nice to meet you, dattebayo!”

The teen was pretty looking, long brunette hair that was up in a bun on the top of his head with two long bangs framing his face. He wore a green haori made of a thick fabric, brown pants, shirt, and obi, and had pretty light brown eyes that looked amber in the sunlight. He gave a small smile and a bow in return. “Pleasure to meet you, Uzumaki-san. My name is Haku,” he said, his voice a low murmur. Quiet type, hm, Naruto will have to be careful, his voice is naturally pitched louder.

“Naruto, could you start carrying dishes to the table?” Toshiro called out. Naruto started into the kitchen just as she added, “Haku, if you want to help you can, too. Let the adult’s chat for a bit and such.”

Naruto glanced back at Iruka-nii-san, suddenly worried about leaving him there. Iruka-nii-san waved Naruto off. “I’ll be fine, otouto. I work in the Missions Office, remember?”

The blonde rolled his eyes. “Right, you’ve got every jounin quailed with just a look,” he deadpanned before entering the kitchen. “What do you need carried, Toshiro-kun?”

“Anything on serving dishes,” Toshiro said, opening the large rice cooker as she did. Naruto sniffed the air, and hummed as he recognized the tang of her stir fry in the air. “I’ll just get the rice transferred and then we’ll be good.”

“Gotcha, Shiro-kun!” he said, quickly picking up two large bowls of stir fry and moving to the table before she could hit him. Eh, he’ll just get run into the ground tomorrow during training. “So, Haku-kun, anything in particular you’re good at?”

Haku appeared next to Naruto, placing down a fresh plate full of those delicious onigiri Toshiro made just the week before. Oh, they’d have to beat Kakashi-sensei off with kunai just to get one of those. Naruto noticed Haku blinking, as if wondering why Naruto had asked him that. “Well, Zabuza-sama has trained me to be able to mimic one of the Kiri hunter nin. I can maintain a relatively decent speed, but I prefer using senbon instead of other weapons,” Haku said slowly. Naruto nodded, okay, fast, has to have amazing aim to have senbon as a main weapon, probably prefers paralyzing enemies rather than killing them. “And I know a bit about salves and healing herbs,” Haku added, as if an after thought.

“Ah, well that’s good! We don’t have a medic on our team, Toshiro and I don’t have the chakra control necessary. Well, Toshiro probably could, but she isn’t built for a support role,” Naruto said as he moved back to grab another plate, this one with what looked like a whole lot of grilled watermelon on it. He pinned Toshiro with a look. “You don’t get to claim the whole plate, got it?” he snarled. Toshiro glared, but huffed in acquiescence. Naruto nodded before turning back to Haku. “You won’t have to worry about me, though. I heal almost immediately after getting injured, something about a clan vitality and healing factor or something, Kaka-sensei wasn’t making much sense after he accidentally stabbed me through the thigh with his tanto.”

Haku just looked bemused. “Is that a normal occurrence in training?”

“Nah, not really. At least, I hope not, that was just while he and Toshiro-kun were helping to correct faulty teaching,” Naruto said, making sure to keep the watermelon as far away from where Toshiro normally sits as possible. “Never know with Kaka-sensei, though.”

“The Mutt will probably work us into the ground tomorrow,” Toshiro said, placing the giant bowl of rice down on an open spot on the table.

“Mutt? I noticed you called Hatake-sensei that, but may I ask why?” Haku tilted his head to the side.

Toshiro blinked up at Haku. “He is a mutt. First time we met, he perked up like a puppy who just got a new toy when he heard I was as smart, if not smarter, than him.” She shrugged. “Besides, his ANBU mask was a dog. So, mutt.”

Naruto shook his head, and moved to call the adults to the table. He noticed that Iruka-nii-san was giving his serene I-will-end-you smile, while the big guy, probably that Zabuza Haku had mentioned, looked like he’d just seen a ghost. Kakashi-sensei, though, looked both whipped and thoroughly chastised, probably something about his two-month old mission report he still needed to hand in. How they missed that conversation was beyond Naruto, so instead he focused on the important thing. “Oi! Dinner’s ready, move it or lose it!” Naruto called out, grinning evilly. Because he probably could eat all of their servings, despite how much food Toshiro had actually made.

• • •

Sakura collapsed onto her bed, every muscle sore from the intense workout the chuunin instructors forced her to do with the other failed genin. She was upset to have not seen Sasuke-kun there with them, but hadn’t had the time to focus on that. The retraining program was a lot harder than the normal Academy program, and the instructors didn’t allow for much in the way of breaks beyond quick five to ten minutes, and by then most of the kids couldn’t breath properly, so there wasn’t even any new gossip to get from her classmates.

She rolled over onto her back and groaned. She needed a shower, and an actual meal in her stomach. She could probably just skip breakfast the next morning to make up for it. But both of those required her to get up.

With great reluctance, Sakura heaved herself up into a sitting position, and mentally cussed out Whitey and Naruto-baka. It had to be because of them that they failed! There’s no way it could have been Sasuke-kun!

But they had been right, a voice in the back of her head whispered. The exercise had been about teamwork, and when they tried to get her to work with them she just violently shut them down. Maybe she did deserve to fail.

Maybe she was the reason why they failed. Or part of it, at least.

Sasuke-kun probably could have gotten the bells, but he’d have never worked with anyone. And they had to work together in order to pass. Kakashi-sensei had even told them that.

With those thoughts swirling in her head, Sakura forced herself to get up and shuffle off to the shower.


	4. Chapter 4

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I LIIIIIIVE!!!
> 
> I am SO SORRY! I got stuck at a part and couldn't move past it until literally last night. So, count this as the Tuesday, and I'll get right back on that schedule I had set up a while ago...
> 
> So. ONWARD!

Haku was curious about his new teammates. They appeared to be complete opposites, and yet looked as close as siblings. Naruto was like the sun, bright, bubbly, and always smiling, but Haku could see a dark sadness flash in his eyes on occasion when talking about things in the past. And then there was what Hatake-sensei had said about his pranking being revenge. The fact that Naruto pranked, successfully and consistently, showed skill in trap making, strategy, stealth, speed, and a high creativity, a potentially lethal combination. Meanwhile, Toshiro was almost like the full moon on a cold winter night, reflecting the sun’s light while being stoic and distant. She had her moments of warmth, and had a good rapport with both Naruto and Hatake-sensei, along with what seemed to be a very dry sense of humor. But she, too, had a darkness in her eyes, and if what Hatake-sensei had flippantly said of her past was in any way accurate then there might just be a good reason for that darkness.

Haku stepped into Training Ground 7 at five till six, and blinked when he spotted Toshiro and a feminine-looking Naruto already there, remains of a meal sitting to one side and a Shogi board between them. He silently approached, and watched as Naruto made some kind of move before crossing his arms, which rested just underneath what looked like actual breasts. Was he under a henge? If so, why? Haku was fairly certain Naruto was a boy, and he didn’t have Haku’s androgyny like Toshiro did, who could have fooled Haku in her plain tee shirt and capris with bandages around her hands and feet.

Toshiro shook her head and made some kind of move that had Naruto groaning. “How did I miss that?!” Haku blinked. Even Naruto’s voice sounded more feminine than normal, a slightly higher pitch verses his low, rough one from last night.

“You’re getting better, Whiskers. It took you two hours, and you nearly had me a couple times there,” Toshiro said, turning her head to Haku and raising a hand in greeting. “Good morning.”

Haku bowed his head slightly. “Good morning, Hitsugaya-san, Uzumaki-san.” He stepped closer and sat down on one of the steps, close enough to examine the board. “What time did you two wake up?”

Naruto rubbed the back of his neck with a sheepish grin. “Eh, around three-thirty for me. Bad night.”

Toshiro pointed at herself. “And she woke me up around three-thirty-five, crawling into my bed for comfort cuddles. We both decided that we weren’t likely to get any more sleep afterwards, so we came here and started a game.” She tilted her head. “Do you play?”

Haku shook his head. “There wasn’t ever really a chance to learn, not while we were constantly on the road. I had wanted to learn, though.”

“Then except to learn the basics, I wouldn’t recommend trying to play against Toshiro. Or a Nara. It would be good in the long run, but just starting out, losing in under five minutes kinda sucks,” Naruto said kindly, a gentle, teasing smile on his face. He then tilted his head and asked, “So, no confused questions about my current gender? I’m not exactly hiding it like I normally did.”

Haku glanced to Naruto, down to his chest, and back into cerulean eyes. He shrugged. “I’m a guy who likes pink and pretty things. If you feel like **hengeing** into a female, then that’s your business. I shouldn’t have a say in it.”

The grin that appeared on Naruto’s face could act as a miniature sun. “Glad you think so! It’s actually not a normal **henge** , too much chakra to perform the normal one. Nah, this is a full physical transformation. It’s classified as ninjutsu instead of a genjutsu, I have too little control to perform those.” Haku blinked when the grin turned into a smug smirk. “There’s also a version that’s the perfect distraction for anyone who, as Toshiro has put it before, has a libido fueled by the sight of the naked female figure. Works on almost ninety percent of Konoha’s shinobi population, too!”

“And he would know that, considering he’s had twelve years to play pranks on them and having to run away from chuunin, then jounin, and then ANBU, managing to outrun and outmaneuver them all,” Toshiro said as she cleaned up the board, setting pieces back into their proper places… or at least Haku thinks that’s what she’s doing. He hadn’t seen a Shogi board in action since he joined Zabuza-sama. “So, how hard do you think Mutt-sensei will be training us today?”

Haku blinked, and tilted his head. “I… do not know. The both of you would have a better guess at that then I would,” he said.

Naruto hummed, letting his chin rest against his chest. “Well, considering the bombshell that Jiji dropped on us yesterday morning, more than likely we won’t be able to move by lunch. Yes, even you, Toshiro-kun.” He looked up towards the rising sun and sighed. “We might as well have joined your taijutsu tutor’s team for their training. It might wind up feeling exactly like that.”

Haku raised an eyebrow at Toshiro’s shudder. “That man is insane, and I knew quite a few people who fall into that territory already,” she bit out. “Brilliant man, complete master of his specialty, but absolutely insane.”

“Yeah well, insane or not, it’s better than waiting around for who knows how long because our sensei’s a lazy asshole,” Naruto sniped back, flaring his chakra slightly. The Shogi board disappeared, leaving behind a storage scroll that looked to have been laid out underneath it. “So, warm up and stretches?”

“And if he’s not here by the time we’re done, either taijutsu practice or individual training,” Toshiro said, standing up and dusting non-existent dust off her pants.

Haku got the feeling that this was going to be a very different experience from training with Zabuza-sama.

• • •

Shortly after the three apprentices finished their warm-up laps and stretches, a flicker of reiatsu caught Toshiro’s attention. She turned and raised an eyebrow at Kakashi, who held up two fingers. “Yo. Good, you used your time wisely and started without me,” he said.

Toshiro reigned in her temper. He wasn’t that late, it had only been about ten minutes, there’s no real reason to freeze him solid, or freeze a branch and drop it on his head.

A glance at Naruto showed that she was having similar troubles. Haku just looked like he was questioning all of his decisions recently, and whether this really was worth having stability and protection.

“Maa maa, don’t be like that. I had to get the training plan cleared by Hokage-sama, and he only entered his office at six,” Kakashi said, most likely hoping to appease the three of them. Well, at least he wasn’t giving some inane excuse like he normally did. Toshiro forced herself to relax, because they were already a day behind the rest of the genin in terms of training, and that was a standard practice. Besides, with Haku added to the mix, Kakashi probably had to adjust whatever plans he had started making to include the elder boy. “Well then, now that we’re all here, let’s see just what you three are really capable of,” he said, an evil and mischievous gleam in his lone visible eye. “Give me fifteen laps around the training ground, just outside the fence. Once you’re done with that, at least thirty reps of basic exercises, as high as you can over without using chakra to enhance your muscles or hurting yourself. Go.”

Toshiro fought to contain a smirk. Now this was more like it. She might actually feel this work out, probably like she had back in Shinsho Academy.

The fifteen laps were easy, and she was the first one done with those. She stepped back into the clearing and didn’t even glance over to where Kakashi was leaning against the posts. She dropped to the ground and began her reps of one-armed push ups. Gai-sensei had realized very early on that with her advanced training, the normal basics for arms, legs, and back weren’t enough of a challenge for her, and so made her adjust accordingly. Toshiro vaguely heard Naruto tell Haku, “Don’t worry, that’s not what Kaka-sensei considers basic,” as she reached her thirty mark and started going over. She knew that she could reach about fifty with her left arm, and sixty with her right, so she made sure to hit those before she strained herself too badly.

She flipped over once she was done with her push-ups, and huffed her way through thirty-five curl-ups. Why hadn’t she focused on her core as much as everything else? Oh, wait, she hadn’t had the time for a proper workout since she took Third Seat and effectively had to handle the entire workload of paperwork for the Tenth Division, because her taicho and fukutaicho were lazy assholes that hated paperwork.

All the rest of the exercises she sped through, reaching at least fifty on all of them. Despite being the first to finish the laps, Haku had managed to get done with his exercises before her, most likely only being able to manage the thirty repetitions. He hadn’t been trained like she and Naruto had, and thus this was going to be a complete shift for him. Naruto finished shortly after Toshiro did, and pulled her arms across her chest for some extra shoulder stretches. Kakashi nodded once. “Good time. This team might not be entirely geared towards heavy combat, however working on your strength, stamina, and endurance is always a smart idea. That will be your warm up every day, as you grow we’ll increase the number of repetitions and possibly change some of the exercises accordingly. Eventually, I’ll be putting resistance seals onto all of you, but that will be put off until I know you three have a solid base to work off of and retrain.

“Now, I’m fairly certain you’re confused about what I meant by not entirely heavy combat, yes?” Toshiro nodded alongside Naruto and Haku. “Well, all of you do have heavy combat skills, Haku Zabuza informed me of what you can do on that front. However, you also have abilities that are appropriate for infiltration and information gathering missions. Naruto with her transformation ninjutsu, trap making, and stealth, Toshiro with her stealth and information distillation capabilities, and Haku with his speed and ability to blend in anywhere. Learning how to mimic a hunter nin is incredibly difficult, so I doubt you’ll have much trouble mimicking a civilian, or any other rank of shinobi. You’re not capture and interrogation like team 10, but the training to sharpen your infiltration techniques will fall closer to ANBU than most of the village would like.”

Toshiro nodded her head at that. “And coupled with training for heavy combat, each of us could be recruited into ANBU on short notice without any trouble should the need arise,” she said, seeing the pieces lining together. With that sort of training, Naruto would be able to at least back up her right to the Hokage position when it passed down to her in training and strength, even if she couldn’t in experience and rank.

Kakashi tilted his head towards her. “Exactly. I’ve gotten my orders to get you three up to at least jounin rank by the time the next chuunin exams roll around in three months time.” Toshiro felt the shock roll off of Haku in waves, and cut a glance over to the elder boy. Kakashi seemed to catch it, as well, because he added, “Don’t worry, you should have no troubles getting there, Haku. At the moment, you rank somewhere in the high chuunin range overall, with low jounin reserves. The toughest part will be catching up to these two in terms of chakra. Toshiro’s in a similar position, except she still needs more work in her regular taijutsu, while Naruto’s a high genin to low chuunin. Both easily have Kage-level reserves. The training will be hard, but there shouldn’t be any real issues getting there.” Kakashi eye-smiled. “So, now that you three have had a small break, suicides from the posts to the tree line, half then full count as one rep. Give me twenty.”

In unison, three groans chorused through the air. Yep, just like training with Gai-sensei.

Maybe it was an ex-ANBU elite jounin thing.

• • •

Hiruzen sighed, letting out a stream of smoke as he did. The report from Uchiha Sasuke’s mental examination just came in, and it was not a pretty picture. Hiruzen read through it again while his two shadow clones worked on the rest of his paperwork (he really had to thank Kakashi for suggesting that, and for getting their new shinobi out of the office before his temporary break in sanity occurred).

Inoichi had been the one to perform the examination, and he managed to find quite a bit of previously undiscovered mental damage from a genjutsu-fueled memory alteration. Unfortunately, it was too late to fix any damage that may have caused the Uchiha heir, which meant any mental instability the alteration caused would only worsen over time. Inoichi managed to find the original memory, and Hiruzen grimaced at the description of it. He’d already been briefed on what had actually occurred in the Uchiha Massacre, it was the reason why he agreed with Itachi taking the fall and working as the village’s spy inside of Akatsuki, but apparently it was even worse than Hiruzen had been informed of.

The description of the genocide of a founding clan was written in a shaky hand, which meant that Inoichi probably had been a hairs breath away from breaking down and puking. It was a gory mess, all the kills clean and efficient, but the deaths themselves had not been quick and painless. Itachi had protected Sasuke for as long as he could, until their parents fell and they were forced to retreat. Apparently, though, Itachi did not bring Sasuke straight to Hiruzen, like the Hokage had thought. The youngest ANBU captain seemed to have planned to go into Akatsuki, and told his brother that he needed to go away from the village to protect him. Itachi then performed the memory alteration with his Mangyeko Sharingan, and knocked Sasuke out.

Hiruzen rubbed at his forehead, silently cursing his luck. What had happened before the massacre for Itachi to almost want to go into Akatsuki? What was he protecting Sasuke from that was so important that risking mental instability was an acceptable outcome?

Danzo was a high possibility, but there was also that unknown Uchiha that had been behind the Kyuubi attack twelve years ago that had gotten away. If there was a potential that either of them had threatened Sasuke to get Itachi to comply… that would be dangerous, and just enough of a leverage for the elder Uchiha to be manipulated.

Whatever his spy’s intentions, the worst had seemed to occur. The scars were numerous, deep, and old, and coupled with the pampering the Civilian Council had done to Sasuke, there was no helping the Uchiha heir except a swift and thorough breaking. And that was just as dangerous as leaving things alone, because if done improperly, then the result could worsen Sasuke’s situation, leaving him cold, emotionless, and bloodthirsty. This also left out the reconditioning that T&I specialize in unless they go about it slowly and make it so the Uchiha heir thinks that its his idea to change his way of thinking. The scarring would still remain, though, which meant that there would have to be several reconditioning sessions, and that would take time they didn’t have available to them.

Hiruzen trusted Ibiki and Inoichi in their capabilities, and so if need be they could perform either option, but no matter what this was not a good situation to be in, because there was no clear cut solution to it. If Sasuke continued training to be a shinobi as he was now, or even with the slow reconditioning, he’d just become more and more of a loose canon. If he didn’t allow Sasuke to continue, not only would he be a loose canon and flight risk, but the Civilian Council would be all up in a snit about not allowing the “strongest doujutsu of the clans” to reach his full potential.

Oh Itachi… The best intentions always have the worst consequences, don’t they?

• • •

Sakura found herself being taken aside by one of the instructors in the middle of morning training, and taken to the nurse’s office. She didn’t understand why, she hadn’t been injured, though considering how wobbly and woozy she was that would be a good assumption to make. Maybe skipping breakfast this morning hadn’t been the best idea.

Ryou-sensei had her sit down, and pulled out a couple scrolls. One turned out to be a storage scroll, from which he pulled out a banana, a couple granola bars, and a cold water bottle. “Eat. Your body needs the nutrients, and you’ll only wind up hurting yourself if you continue practice as you are,” he said shortly, handing the banana over to her.

Sakura flushed as pink as her hair as she took the fruit and peeled it.

He set the other scroll down close to Sakura on the desk they were next to. “This has instructions on a correct shinobi diet, and the negative effects of dieting not only as a shinobi, but as a person of your age. According to your last physical, you are severely underweight and in danger of being classified as malnourished. This is for you to keep, make sure your parents read this and understand that everything written here has been proven by Lady Tsunade herself.”

Sakura nodded her head quickly. Ryou-sensei was scary when he glared like that.

“I understand that your mother is on the Civilian Council, however that does not mean she knows what is best for a shinobi. I would seriously take into consideration what this scroll says, and not what she does, if I were in your position. Finish eating, and drink at least half of the bottle before coming to rejoin the class. You’re not the only one we’re having to correct this issue with from your year, nor is this the first time we’ve had to handle it.” With that last order, Ryou-sensei left Sakura alone in the office.

She eyed the scroll as she slowly ate the banana, knowing that eating too fast would probably turn her stomach right now. If she knew whatever was in the scroll from the start and ate properly, trained properly even, would she have managed to pass Kakashi-sensei’s test?

Her confidence, already a fragile thing despite how she acts, had been shattered after Team 7 had failed and been disbanded. Could she have actually been able to pull her weight through the test if she had done this? If she had trained properly, and hadn’t been so fixated on Sasuke-kun? And if her mother was wrong about her dieting, what else was she wrong about? Did Sakura treat Naruto unfairly because she legitimately hated the boy, or because she grew up hearing so much vitriol about him?

Sakura finished the banana, and tossed the peel into the garbage. She took the chance while munching on one of the fruit and nut filled granola bars to take a look over the various medical texts on the bookshelves around the room. She had heard that medic-nin require perfect chakra control, and that they were in short enough supply that teams were being sent out without one into the field. Maybe she should check out a few beginner texts from the library after the Academy let out. It certainly wouldn’t hurt her understanding of just how badly she had ruined her body with the diet her mother enforced, and most certainly would only aid in her training.

She was going to be a shinobi. She’d spent too long working towards this, and wasted much of the time she had. She wasn’t going to let any more go to waste.

• • •

Zabuza had to admit, these brats Haku was paired with were good. Hatake’s training was a lot tougher than anything Zabuza had been able to piece together while on the road as a missing nin, but he knew Haku could handle it. He’d been able to take down A-rank mission target equivalents within two years of travelling with Zabuza, despite only being nine at the time.

The blonde brat, Uzumaki (and he had to force himself to breath as he thought of that, they might not even be related, calm the fuck down Zabuza), was exactly at the level that Hatake had labeled him at. High number of repetitions, then again he (or was it she?) was an Uzumaki, and a jinchuuriki, and their endurance could go on for days if need be. Coupled with the healing factor that just having the damn fox demon in his gut gave him, and the kid most likely would be terrifying within a couple months. Speed was incredible, but if he’d heard correctly this kid had outrun entire ANBU squads before he even graduated from Konoha’s Academy, but Haku could probably still beat him there. Zabuza had never even seen the kid’s taijutsu style before, but he was confident in it, and despite a couple wobbles more likely contributed to the fact that Hatake was enforcing a quarter speed than actual difficulty, the kid looked to be a natural in the weird circular style that looked almost like the Tides Fist in some ways. Basic weaponry and kenjutsu were a little shaky, but that could be corrected over time.

Or with a small army of shadow clones, as was proven when the brats were told to work on their individual weapons skills.

The white haired brat, Hitsugaya, appeared more advanced than her age would suggest, especially if those “basic” exercises were anything to go by. Zabuza knew he could only manage about half of the one-armed push ups that girl sped through, and probably would have collapsed after doing them. Her speed was around the same as Haku’s, but Zabuza could tell she was holding back for some reason. Her movements suggested that she could run faster, but she stuck to within visible limits, just like Haku outside of his Demonic Ice Mirrors. Taijutsu was acceptable enough, though it was clear she was still learning since her style was a fairly basic one. Despite that, though, it looked like she had it close to mastered already. Probably trained with shadow clones as well, would make sense after hearing everything yesterday. Basic weapons handling was the same, acceptable, aim wasn’t at Haku’s level but then again no one was really at his boy’s level when it came to aim.

When she broke out her thin-ass katana that was about as long as she was tall, though, Zabuza started paying close attention. He didn’t recognize the kata she went through, but could tell from the ease in which she all but danced through the forms repeatedly that it was a basic one that she’d mastered years ago. The precise flicks and slices of the blade spoke of an intimate knowledge with the moves. He also didn’t recognize the clearly more advanced style she slipped into, but could also see the same level of mastery there that she had with the basic style. What kind of kenjutsu training had she gone through to get these results at such a young age? Not even Kiri got such results from their Seven Swordsman.

He did doubt that she could stand up to his Kubukiribocho, though. That tiny twig she calls a sword wouldn’t be able to handle him going at half strength with his sword in hand for very long, maybe five seconds, if that. But he did have to admit that she chose the correct blade for her body type, and didn’t doubt that it was perfectly balanced for her. That sword looked to be the kind that was personalized to the max, and designed so that it would still be compatible years down the road.

Maybe training with these brats wouldn’t be too boring after all.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Tell me what you think! Comments and kudos are my life!


	5. Chapter 5

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> It's Saturday, it's after midnight. Shut up, don't look at me like that.
> 
> \- Hyorinmaru plush continues to give unimpressed stare -
> 
> \- turns back to readers -
> 
> Anyways, here's the next chapter!

Toshiro staggered inside of her apartment that night wondering if killing Kakashi would be a good idea or not.

The training, after Kakashi was done examining their levels and capabilities and what not, had been hellish, and her limbs felt like jelly. She hadn’t sparred with Zabuza yet, though she was quite excited about that eventuality. But training had only gone on through lunch.

No, what she wanted to kill Kakashi for was those bullshit “missions” he assigned them until sundown.

So, first one was easy, courier duty inside Konoha of a shipment between the Nara Clan compound and the hospital. Standard, easy mission, except they hadn’t been allowed to touch the ground the entire time. Toshiro was certain a part of that was to get Shikaku to laugh his ass off at them, most specifically her, which had gone off without a hitch.

The second was, apparently, a highly dreaded mission in Konoha that had even been a thing when Kakashi had been on his own genin team: “Capture Tora.” Simple enough, Toshiro was a cat person, they normally fell in love with her.

This thing was a menace.

Toshiro was fairly certain that, if it weren’t for Kurama, Naruto would have scars from the scratch marks he gained from that hell-beast. Gods knew Toshiro had a couple she swore would leave marks. What’s more, they still couldn’t touch the ground through the whole thing, capture and retrieval. The only time they were allowed on the ground was in the mission’s office.

And so, when you think that Kakashi had finally been willing to let them go, he chose another mission for them.

The chuunin behind the desk was looking rather worried for Mutt-sensei’s mental health.

Painting an elderly couple’s fence as a surprise for the wife. Not that bad, on paper, except Kakashi took “surprise” to mean that the wife shouldn’t know about it until they were completely done and ready for her signature on a job correctly done. Luckily, Haku knew a technique which would allow the three of them to paint the fence unseen without causing any harm to the paint, and Toshiro had managed to mimic it well enough once his chakra started sputtering out that there wasn’t a problem.

That was when they found out that the wife was a “demon hater.”

She proceeded to scream at Naruto and chase her around and out of the yard. Kakashi had to hold back that Naruto was his apprentice, and had been instrumental to them finishing the job as quickly as they had, long enough to get the required signature and drag Toshiro away before she did something stupid, like freeze the bitch solid.

Not the best introduction to the civilian population of Konoha for Haku, who had been shocked and hurt at the reaction to his teammate from the elderly woman, but it happened, so they had to compensate.

Luckily, Kakashi decided that that was enough for one day and sent them all on their way. Toshiro stumbled back into her apartment, and started shucking her clothes off for a shower. She honestly didn’t know why they had to deal with this, but something told her that the pattern would just continue on as it had been until they at least had the minimum number of D-Rank missions under their belts, and thus could start taking C-Ranks. Honestly, even though she was griping about the additions to each mission that Kakashi gave them, it was good training for the other two. Naruto needed to work more on his control, and making him unable to touch the ground for what came out to be two and a half hours was good practice with that. Haku, though, had the control bits down pat; he needed the reserves to keep up with the two of them, and thus continuously using his chakra despite having gone through intense training earlier in the day was a good exercise for him.

The only downside: they were supposed to meet at the village gates at six the next day. That could only mean one thing.

Gai-sensei and Team 9.

Toshiro was certain that if she didn’t have such control over her emotions, she’d be hysterically sobbing or laughing in the shower at the thought. Oh, Gods help them, they weren’t going to be able to move for weeks…

• • •

Kakashi eye-smiled at his cute little apprentices. Zabuza had said he’d meet up with the group when they made it to the training grounds the night before (unknown to him, that was the smartest decision to make), so it was just him and his three minions– I mean apprentices, Toshiro certainly was not anyone’s minion and Naruto was his little brother and thus could actually get away with castrating Kakashi. “Good morning my cute students! From today onward, we’ll be running two laps around the village instead of fifteen around the training grounds. What’s more, we’ll be having Konoha’s taijutsu master and his Team 9 working with ours to help strengthen your skill in taijutsu and weapons handling every other day for the next two weeks.”

Before Kakashi could continue, though, he heard Gai yell out, “MY MOST ESTEEMED RIVAL! IT IS GOOD TO SEE YOU HAVE REKINDLED YOUR FLAMES OF YOUTH ONCE MORE!”

Quickly, Kakashi stated, “Try and keep pace with the more sane of the four of them. See you at Training Ground 7!” He then used his chakra to fuel his escape from his crazy friend. Why oh why did he agree to do this cross-team training again? Especially with Gai of all people…

• • •

Haku blinked at Hatake-sensei’s rather abrupt departure, and again at the blur of green and orange that sped past them. “MY ESTEEMED RIVAL, WHERE ARE YOU GOING? WE SHALL FAN OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH WITH ONE HUNDRED LAPS OF THE VILLAGE OR I SHALL CLIMB THE HOKAGE MONUMENT WITH ONLY MY THUMBS!”

Toshiro sighed, her shoulders slumping. “And there went Gai-sensei. Which means…”

“GAI-SENSEI, I SHALL JOIN YOU IN FANNING OUR FLAMES OF YOUTH, AND IF I CANNOT PERFORM ONE HUNDRED LAPS AROUND THE VILLAGE I SHALL RUN FIFTY LAPS WITH ONLY MY HANDS!” came from a second, smaller green and orange blur that went at almost the same speed as the first.

Haku turned an incredulous look to Toshiro as she said, “…that Gai-sensei’s mini-me won’t be far behind.”

…was it something in the water that just made Konoha shinobi insane?

Before Haku could vocalize his query, though, a female voice frantically called out, “Toshiro-kun– Naruto-kun- snapping turtles– RUN!” Haku looked to the origin of the voice, and sure enough, there were two more Konoha genin, a male with brunette hair and a female whose hair was in two buns, running towards them. With snapping turtles, moving much faster than Haku knew they could, hot on their heels.

“What the hell,” Haku breathed out as he joined the rest of his team and Team 9 in running.

“Why did Gai-sensei have to release THEM?” Naruto moaned even as he kept pace with the group.

“Apparently, we weren’t awake enough, when we showed up for training, earlier. This, of course, is an appropriate punishment, in Gai-sensei’s mind,” the male said between pants and grunts of exertion.

“Are all Konoha nin insane?” Haku finally had to ask.

This caused Team 9’s kunoichi to laugh. “Probably, but it comes with the job! I’m Jakonato Tenten, this snob is Hyuuga Neji. You’re new around here, aren’t you?”

“Haku,” he said. “And yes, I only joined Konoha two days ago, and joined Hitsugaya-san and Uzumaki-san in team exercises yesterday.”

A silver-and-green blur passed the group, chanting, “Nope, nope, nope, nope, nope,” in a suspiciously Hatake-sensei voice.

The first green and orange blur came just after, “BUT MY ESTEEMED RIVAL–“

“GAI-SENSEI!” And there went the second green and orange blur.

Haku seriously wondered whether Zabuza-sama knew what they had really gotten into when he decided they’d go to Konoha.

• • •

So, after definitely-not-two-laps around the village, both Team 9 and Team Kakashi were in Training Ground 7 performing their exercises, something that Toshiro was immensely thankful for. Granted, having to do fifty of each exercise was a pain in and of itself, but at least she didn’t have to struggle with her speed doing them. She always had to struggle to keep herself from going shunpo fast whenever Gai-sensei unleashed the snapping turtles on them.

Insanity had to be an ex-ANBU elite jounin thing. Shikamaru had made his sensei sound like a fairly even-keeled guy, and the small glimpse of Team 8’s sensei from team assignment day showed much the same for them.

Finally, everyone was done, and standing at attention in front of Kakashi and Gai-sensei. Zabuza was haunting in the trees like a creeper again, so he didn’t count. Gai-sensei smiled widely and proclaimed, “Very good times! Your Fires of Youth burn brightly this morning!”

Toshiro, Kakashi, Tenten, and Neji all visibly fought to contain their twitches. Haku just had that horrified look back on his face. The branches above where Zabuza was standing suddenly shifted, and Zabuza was no longer leaning against the tree. Lee just grinned and gave a thumbs up good-guy pose. “YOSH, GAI-SENSEI! What Youthful Training shall we be doing today?”

Kakashi spoke up at that point, thank the Gods. “Well, Gai will be examining Haku’s taijutsu to see if there is potentially a form better suited for him. Neji, you’ll be Haku’s sparring partner while Gai does that, both your speeds should even out around the same. Meanwhile, Toshiro and Tenten will exchange kenjutsu styles and other weapon tricks and techniques.” Toshiro glanced over at Tenten and took a small step away upon seeing the miniature flames in the girl’s eyes. What was it with this team? It wasn’t a genjutsu, Hyorinmaru made Toshiro immune to those. “And Lee and Naruto will be sparring together while I referee the match. Eventually, Naruto and Toshiro will switch places, but that will come after the first break around nine-thirty. Before lunch, I thought we could have Zabuza and Toshiro spar, see how well my cute apprentice does against one of the Seven Swordsman of the Mist.”

If anything, Tenten looked even more starry-eyed at that. She’d been hounding Toshiro for kenjutsu lessons since the white-haired female started tutoring under Gai-sensei. And now she found out that one of the Seven Swordsman was in Konoha.

Gods have mercy on this poor Shinigami’s soul.

• • •

Sasuke glared at the plain plastic walls of the cell he had been transported into after the man that looked like Ino performed his mental examination. He had the bare minimum of necessities, a bed, a small bathroom area, and a table and chairs for when food was sent down. There was one “window” (really, a mirror that size inset into the wall? How stupid do they think he is) and one door, behind a black line denoting where Sasuke’s free movement ends. He grit his teeth and tried calling on his chakra again, just to stall out once more.

They fail him, imprison him, cut him off from his chakra, and then leave him here without any contact except when meals are brought down. Him, the last of the Uchiha Clan, one of the Elite and Founding Clans of Konoha!

It had to be those clanless losers faults. And that jounin, Hatake. Everything started going wrong when Hatake failed Sasuke, and took those losers as his apprentice.

Didn’t anyone realize he needed to kill Itachi? He needed to get stronger, because he was nowhere close to where his brother was. So he should have been apprenticed, not Hitsugaya and, and that Dobe!

His eyes narrowed at the wall across from his spot on the bed. There had to be a way out of here. Konoha clearly doesn’t want him getting strong enough, so he would just go find somewhere who would.

• • •

Sakura had done as Ryou-sensei asked the day before, and showed her parents the scroll detailing the proper shinobi diet and how dangerous her current diet was. Her father, a retired chuunin after nearly losing his leg, was completely approving of the fact she was moving away from her old habits. Her mother, on the other hand, tried to explain that clearly the teachers at the Academy didn’t know what was good for a young lady. Which sparked a gigantic argument between her parents, one that had been kept from Sakura apparently since they fell into seemingly well-worn positions.

Finally, it ended when Sakura blew up and actually bashed their heads together.

Which lead to her standing in the Hokage’s office while her father filed for a divorce. Sakura gnawed on the inside of her lip for a second, and asked, “Hokage-sama, would it be possible to file for a med-nin apprenticeship at the hospital?”

The kind smile from Hokage-sama spoke volumes. “I do believe we can arrange that, Sakura-chan. You took an interest in medical ninjutsu?”

She nodded her head, smiling slightly as her father grinned at her approvingly. “I read up on the basics of medical ninjutsu before going home yesterday, and I think I could do well there.”

“You do realize that even as a med-nin, you would have to continue your physical training?” Hokage-sama asked, concern lighting his voice. “When on a team, you would need to be the one person to never fall, and thus be able to protect yourself almost better than the rest of your team could.”

Sakura nodded her head enthusiastically. “Hai, Hokage-sama. I’ll keep up with that. I don’t think Ryou-sensei would allow for much else.”

Her father snorted at that. “Oh, Ryou is your sensei? I was wondering where that thieving wolf disappeared to after I had to retire. Never saw him as a teacher, but hey, if it works.”

Hokage-sama nodded as Sakura stared at her father in shock. “Ryou-sensei is one of our best for the retraining year in the Academy, tough but mindful of his students limitations, even as he pushes them past them. He also has the best track record of breaking fangirl behaviors.” At that, Sakura had to nod, remembering how Ryou-sensei had spoken of dealing with her kind of behavior before. She was still shocked that Ryou-sensei and her father apparently had been on the same team, but she wasn’t going to grill her father for information yet. Not in front of Hokage-sama, at least.

• • •

Toshiro sighed as Kakashi called the training portion to a close. On the one hand, she was excited at the thought of sparring with Zabuza. She’d never gone up against someone with his size and sword before. But on the other hand, he’d know that she was holding back, probably already knew that long before the spar, and would undoubtedly call her on it. And she really, really didn’t want her abilities getting out, because she didn’t know how well the whole “Kekkei Genkai” thing would hold up in actuality.

Huh. Maybe this was a good thing, then? A spar with a fellow Konoha nin, no matter how new to the village he was, in order to figure out how well the excuse would hold up under fire was far better than having to deal with the consequences while on the field.

She shook her head and settled Hyorinmaru so he would be easier to draw from his now standard position at the small of her back. No point worrying about it now. The spar was already set, and Zabuza looked just as eager to get to the good part as she was.

Kakashi called out, “Ready? Begin!”

And they were off.

Toshiro kept a hand calmly resting on Hyorinmaru’s hilt as she dodged Zabuza’s first strike, which could have cleaved her in two if she hadn’t moved. She pushed hard with her feet to just miss the second, which would have bisected her. Hm, longer reach than she was used to, she needed to compensate for that. He had managed to knick her shirt slightly.

She took the seconds breathing room to unsheathe Hyorinmaru, stopping the third strike while he was only half out of the sheath, another bisection. She took the chance to land a kick to Zabuza’s side, and jumped away again to complete the draw. Zabuza went for another vertical strike, clearly holding back his strength still, which Toshiro stopped with Hyorinmaru, holding her sword perpendicular to his. She took a small step inside his guard and slid her blade towards his exposed side, grating against the edge of his Kubukiribocho faster than he could change trajectory.

Zabuza broke away, a grin evident under his bandages. “Well well, that twig actually can hold up in a fight, eh?” Toshiro settled into a low stance, her blade held at the ready over her head. Hyorinmaru rumbled in mixed annoyance and pleasure at the comment, causing a small smirk to stretch across her lips.

Her next step had a touch of shunpo behind it, making her appear right behind him, her blade swinging for her own bisection stroke, only to be met by Zabuza’s. Clearly training with Haku made him used to fast opponents. She changed direction of her stroke, swinging just behind his back and aiming for his throat. He dodged, and caught the follow up overhanded chop.

By almost unspoken consensus, the two fighters jumped apart. Toshiro eyed the sharp grin barely hidden under the bandages warily. That couldn’t be a good sign.

“Hey girly, why don’t we stop playing around?” Zabuza asked, tilting his head as he sped through one-handed seals. “I wanna see that kekkei genkai of yours, after all. **Kirigakure no Jutsu: Hiding in Mist**.”

A large amount of mist blanketed the clearing, infused with Zabuza’s chakra. While that would make things difficult for a normal shinobi to know where he was, Toshiro could still pinpoint his reiatsu in the fog. She took a deep breath, and settled further into her stance, one hand coming away from the hilt. “If that’s what you wish, Momochi-san.” She closed her eyes and inhaled the misty air.

Her exhale was cold enough to differentiate from the rest of the mist.

“Reign over the frosted heavens, Hyorinmaru.”

Her heartbeat slowed as her core temperature dropped, blood thickening and cooling in her veins with each sluggish _thud-thud_. With a slash of her blade, she dissipated most of the mist. Utilizing the momentum, she continued the turn and flicked the crescent moon-shaped blade towards where Zabuza stood, shock swirling through his reiatsu.

CLANG!

Toshiro smirked as the chain wrapped around the blade, Zabuza barely missing the crescent blade. She used a bit more shunpo than she normally used to drag the larger nin out of the fog.

With a snarl, Zabuza twirled his blade sharply over his head, using her smaller size against her and dragging her closer through the chain. Toshiro’s eyes widened as the blade fell faster than she could counter towards her exposed shoulder. With the chain around the Kubukiribocho she couldn’t run without dropping Hyorinmaru, and there was no way she could get her blade up fast enough. Damn it, she didn’t want to drag this out so soon…

“Bankai: Daiguren Hyorinmaru!” she barked out, and forced the resulting ice growth to catch the blade before it hit.

“What the–“ Zabuza said in a low voice, his eyes widening at the sight.

Toshiro smirked, and flared her wings slightly before pushing off the ground and spinning fast enough for her tail to whip against his face. She landed just a few feet from him, her blade held at the ready in one hand as her wings flared protectively around her and the ice settled back over her ribcage, and now also at the junctions of her neck and shoulders. She waited for Zabuza to regain his balance, some of his bandages cut from the smack of her tail, before lunging forward and twisting his Kubukiribocho out of his hand and Hyorinmaru to his throat.

“Winner: Toshiro,” Kakashi called out, though he sounded slightly winded. Hm, maybe because of how close that got before she called Bankai? Or maybe because she did anyways. Either way, Toshiro gently stepped back and lowered Hyorinmaru, letting her Bankai slip away. Though one part of the ice wasn’t fading away. She frowned down at it, before realizing that it was partially red.

Shit. That wasn’t good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "What's this? Did Rain actually write a full action scene without it being only two paragraphs and rather badly written?" Why yes, yes I did.
> 
> And no, I cannot write a good sounding Gai and Lee to save my life. GDI.
> 
> Tell me what you think! Comments are my life blood!


	6. Chapter 6

“So,” Haku said. Toshiro winced, knowing that the coming inquisition was not going to go well. “That didn’t look like any kekkei genkai that I’ve ever heard of before.”

Toshiro went to shrug, and winced as the med-nin put pressure on one of her pressure points in her shoulder. “Well, I never said it actually was, just that it was close enough,” she said, which was the truth. She had never confirmed that it was a kekkei genkai, just like she knew that Kakashi hadn’t confirmed her age beyond what she was physically.

Naruto sat next to the bed that Toshiro was being treated on, while Haku was leaning against the railing along the foot of the bed. Zabuza was leaning against the wall behind Haku, a contemplative and slightly sheepish look on his face; clearly he didn’t know how to react to actually hurting Toshiro during their spar. Tenten, Lee, and Neji all were out in the hallway, getting the standard talk regarding her abilities that the Hokage had agreed would be the cover for what she could do. At least, until Kurama had merged with Naruto and become his zanpaktō spirit.

Haku raised an eyebrow and said, “Then please specify what it is that you can do, Hitsugaya-san. If we are to be teammates, we will need to know exactly what each other can do.”

Toshiro took a second to think that over. Because it was true, if they were to effectively work together, hopefully past the chuunin exams, then they would need to know each other’s strengths, weaknesses, and true capabilities. However, she couldn’t say anything as long as the med-nin was in the room, and especially where anyone could over hear. So, she met Haku’s eyes and said, “Come over for dinner tonight and I’ll explain it there.”

“You will not be cooking, Hitsugaya-san,” the med-nin tutted, rather frazzled. “I have no idea why you thought sparring against one of the Seven Swordsman was a good idea, or that freezing the wound solid would be good for your recovery, but you will not be using this arm for the rest of the day so as not to aggravate the wound, am I clear?”

Toshiro winced. “Hai, hai. I was going to let one of my clones handle the cooking in my place, they normally do that anyways.” The white-haired dragoness could feel the med-nin’s disapproval, but apparently the med-nin knew better than to argue about it, instead muttering under her breath while finishing up the bandaging around the wound.

“There. Please, please do nothing strenuous with that arm for the rest of the day, and be more careful when sparring,” the med-nin scolded. Toshiro took the admonishment with much aplomb, and let herself be ushered out of the room by the med-nin and her team (and tag-along).

One look over Team 9 had Toshiro internally groaning. They all had their determined faces on, and what’s more Team 10 had joined them as well. Word really did travel fast in a Shinobi Village. Toshiro would have to remember that more often.

She wasn’t getting out of not telling the rest of them anything.

She held up her left hand and said, “Look, I can tell my team, but not anyone else! Not yet, anyway. Talk with Hokage-sama if you really want to know, he’s probably the only one who could decide what you all need to know.”

That got her several mulish looks, and Shikamaru was looking at Toshiro with narrowed eyes that normally meant that he was puzzling a rather difficult problem out and was coming close to solving it, but eventually they all acquiesced. Though she didn’t doubt that it was only temporary. Shinobi turned out to be an even more stubborn bunch than Shinigami were.

• • •

Naruto gnawed on the inside of his lip as he helped one of Toshiro’s clones set the table. She was back in her library, a closet that she had asked him to enlarge using seals that he had picked up from one of the more advanced sealing books thanks to his own **kage bunshin** , going over the various rumors and bits of information that her clones had gathered throughout the day. He was shocked that his friend was even capable of handling a full investigation of the magnitude that she was undertaking, by herself technically, while also going to the Academy and training with their team, but it was almost par for the course with Toshiro. Which, honestly, Naruto shouldn’t be too shocked about, really.

The other thing that Toshiro could be doing back in the library was figuring out just what she would tell Haku and Zabuza. After several sessions in which they would meditate together and speak to one another in that weird joint soul scape thing, where Hyorinmaru and Kurama could talk with them both as well, Naruto knew the whole story behind how his new sister came to this world, and knew that he’d probably do… something to that Soul King should he ever meet the bastard. Maybe copy Kakashi-sensei’s Thousand Years of Death “jutsu” and use it on the Soul King. But that was after a few weeks of knowing each other, and it was not all at once. Hell, Naruto was fairly certain there was still something that Toshiro wasn’t telling him about, and honestly he was fine with that. He didn’t need to know everything, just enough to know that she trusted him.

Haku and Zabuza, they both had literally just met two days ago. Their rapport was good so far, but they were still strangers with one another. Naruto didn’t have to worry about the whole jinchuuriki thing because they had already been told about that from Jiji. Toshiro, on the other hand, her story was so far out of the box that the only way to believe it was to actually see it, either by the Yamanaka technique or through the meditation thingy. And Toshiro had flat out stated once that she hadn’t even been sure that it would work the first time around, that not everyone had a soul or mindscape that was compatible with that technique.

But it was their best chance for the two to actually believe it, instead of constantly doubting if what they were being told was true. After all, you couldn’t lie in your own mind, or soul.

Naruto swallowed harshly as someone knocked on the door. A quick check of the reiatsu (Toshiro had been teaching him how to use that, as his own preparation for the merging with Kurama) told him that it was Haku and Zabuza standing outside, and that Kakashi was closing in fast, headed towards the window in Toshiro’s room. Probably going to slip in and drag her out of the library, or try to at least. The seals that she had Naruto set up outside the window to prevent such an action were mean.

Well. Time to see how well this would work.

• • •

Toshiro blinked at what was before her.

Surprisingly, Haku and Zabuza were wary but willing to allow the meditation technique she had Naruto used to converse about things that she didn’t even trust the privacy seals to conceal. Kakashi had been curious about it as well, and requested to join them. So, after a dinner where they all tried to ignore the tense atmosphere, they had all settled down on the comfortable pillows that Toshiro had splurged on and slipped into a meditative trance. Toshiro hadn’t been expecting much, maybe to see their mindscapes instead of the Inner Worlds that she and Naruto had (luckily, they managed to adjust his Inner World into a dark and comforting forest, while the seal on Kurama was only a collar and bracelets/anklets on her person, instead of that sewer with a cage).

Not five different soul scapes connected in a pentagon-like formation.

“Huh, is that what it looks like,” Kakashi said, peering into Toshiro’s barren snowfield from his ancient ruined temple in a forest soul scape. “I thought it would be a pure white library, like what Inoichi had described.”

Toshiro rolled her eyes. “That’s my mind, this is my Inner World, my soul. Much like where each of you are standing is your own.”

Zabuza stared back into his own Inner World like he was worried about what would come out of the mist at him. “This is normal?”

“Extremely,” she drawled, glancing over at Haku, who was sitting on the steps to a quaint little roadside temple that was in the middle of a light snowfall, unlike Toshiro’s blizzard. “The Inner World reflects the person’s personality and view of the world. Occasionally, there are environmental changes that reflect the person’s mood, but that depends on the type of soul scape. If it’s completely indoors, then that doesn’t happen.” She shrugged at that point. “Honestly, I wasn’t expecting this. Not surprised, but it wasn’t expected.”

“I think you’ve spent too long away from others of your kind, Little One,” Hyorinmaru rumbled, sending three out of the four others about a foot in the air and whipping towards her area. Toshiro stared back blankly as her ice dragon lifted his head and moved closer to their group. “Or mayhap we were simply not expecting to find any like us here. The Wolf had always felt like us, closer than how the Kit does.”

Toshiro turned to her zanpaktō and raised an eyebrow at him. “What do you mean, Hyorinmaru?” she asked, causing Zabuza to choke.

“Wait, that’s your sword? The dragon?” he asked, eyeing Hyorinmaru’s form with a combination of wariness and awe. Haku had a similar look, though there was more awe in his eyes than anything else.

Toshiro nodded and waved a hand at Zabuza, while Hyorinmaru chuckled. “If you believe myself to be shocking, then the Fox Queen will give you heart palpitations, Shark,” Hyorinmaru said, teasingly.

“Oh, I’d love to see that,” said a growling voice. Toshiro shook her head at Kurama’s appearance, not exactly shocked by it but wishing she had waited for a bit. She wanted to know what Hyorinmaru had meant. Her dragon gave her a look that simply said, “Patience,” to which Toshiro huffed and rolled her eyes at. Hyorinmaru knew that she did not have the best patience, and yet he was asking it of her. Honestly, dragons could be so maddening some days.

Apparently, her statement of “soul scape” wasn’t enough of a warning for Kurama’s presence. Kakashi had reached for his weapons pouch, Haku had jumped up to the roof and was watching the giant fox as if she was going to attack, and Zabuza had reached back for his sword. Toshiro rolled her eyes and groaned internally. “That’s it. Spirits, humanoid forms, if you wouldn’t mind. And get to the point, Hyorinmaru. You said that the Mutt had felt like us?”

Hyorinmaru chuckled before he flexed his reiatsu and stepped out of the snow storm in his human guise. Ignoring the looks that he was getting from the three newcomers to this form of communication, he said, “I had felt, and established a rudimentary communication with, a zanpaktō spirit inside of the Wolf. The Ice Sprite has one as well, though the Shark is a bit different in that his sword has a consciousness of its own that latched onto him.” Hyorinmaru shrugged. “Most likely, they will show themselves while their counterparts are here, though they will have to undergo the process of learning to hear their zanpaktō’s names just like any other Shinigami back in Seireitei.”

Kurama, in her human guise as well, grinned rakishly at the three shinobi while threading her fingers through a surprisingly silent Naruto’s hair. “Well, this will certainly be interesting. Who knew that the ones with similar abilities would be placed on the same team? Kushina would be laughing her ass off.”

Kakashi winced and rubbed the back of his head. “Yeah, Kushina-nee-chan probably would be– Hey!” A silver form shot out of the foliage and knocked Kakashi deeper into the forest. Toshiro held up a hand and solidified the boundaries between souls, to keep anyone from moving to help Kakashi.

“Relax, his zanpaktō spirit wouldn’t actually hurt him,” she said, her tone bored even while her eyes were trained on where Kakashi had disappeared. “Drive him even more insane than normal, or push him harder to learn their name and abilities, sure, but actually maliciously hurt him? That’s rare, even for the most blood thirsty of zanpaktō.” She eyed the slender forms standing just inside the temple of Haku’s soul scape, and smirked lightly. “Haku-kun, it appears you have a couple visitors of your own. Dual spirits are rare, congratulations.”

Haku carefully jumped down from the roof, and turned to face the temple itself. A small flush rose on his cheeks before four hands reached out to pull him inside.

Toshiro shook her head, and turned back to Hyorinmaru. “So, how long will it take Kubukiribocho to pop up? Any bets?”

“With how quickly the other two showed up, I’m shocked Kubukiribocho isn’t here already,” Naruto finally said, a small laugh finishing his statement.

Toshiro shrugged, and stifled a snort when something reached out and dragged Zabuza back into the mist. “Well, looks like it’s just the four of us, until they get sorted. Want to start off from where we ended last time, or pull out so we can get started on our extracurricular activities?”

Naruto snorted into his chuckle and shook his head. “You head on out, I think Kura and I can handle getting to know one another and the resonations on our own.”

Toshiro nodded before pulling out of the meditation.

• • •

Kakashi scrambled to a standing position as whatever had attacked him backed off. He eyed the large wolf, almost as tall as his shoulder, as it paced the area in front of Kakashi, growling. “Twenty-six years I’ve tried to talk to you, and only now you show your face, pup?” it growled, or more precisely he did. Kakashi tilted his head, eyebrows coming together in confusion. “Of course it would take a dragon, they’re the originators of all spirits, however this is ridiculous. We will be correcting this, pup.”

“What?” he couldn’t help but ask, and dodged out of the next lunge from the wolf.

“The dragon, the ancient one who you claimed as pack. She who paved the path for you to come here,” the wolf snarled, dark blue eyes glaring heatedly at Kakashi as they stood off across from each other. “I am not some tool to be used, nor am I going to bend my neck for some upstart pup who thinks he should ignore the cries of his own soul. So listen here and listen well, because even if you can hear my name I will not accept you as my Alpha so easily.” Kakashi tensed, because oh shit, this must be where his more wolf side was connected to, because he could already feel that part’s hackles raise at the callous words. The wolf seemed to notice this, because something akin to a smug grin crossed his features. “I am Ōkami no Nakigoe, and I will not be easily won.”

Kakashi blinked, and tested the name out on his tongue. “Ōkami no Nakigoe, wolves cry. Fitting, I suppose.”

Ōkami no Nakigoe blinked at Kakashi, and then let loose a howl of laughter (no pun intended). “Of course you’d hear it the first time when so many others had to wait centuries to hear my name! You’re just that damn stubborn, aren’t you, pup?”

Kakashi stared at Ōkami no Nakigoe as the wolf literally rolled on his back, still howling in laughter, and wondered how this became his life.

He blamed Toshiro.

• • •

Haku flushed and averted his eyes from the twin ladies who had pulled him inside the temple, trying to ignore how they were dressed. It wasn’t that they were scantily clad or anything, but more that what they were wearing left very little to the imagination. Tight fitting high-necked male kimonos with skin tight leggings and geta-clad feet. Their hair was the same shade of brown as his, and styled up in a tight bun at the top of their heads, but their eyes were the color of a full moon at its zenith, and skin as pale as freshly fallen snow. And in their hair were tiny silver gems, glittering like snow, or stars.

“Haku-kun, you actually showed up!” the one on the left said, her voice lilting and musical, reminding Haku of his mother’s voice. The twin on the right nodded her head.

“We were almost certain you would never arrive,” the right hand twin said, her voice identical. Haku realized that the only way to tell them apart was that they had mirrored bangs and folds on the kimono, other wise they were perfectly identical.

“Um, I apologize about keeping you waiting?” he said, uncertain how he should respond. Instead, he got giggles and the twins pulling him down to sit at a low table with a tea set on it.

“Nonsense,” the one with the left part (ironically the one who stayed on his right) said, waving a hand while she set out the mugs.

“We worried, but you had no need of us before,” said the one with the right part as she poured the tea into the mugs. “Now that you are with the Fox Queen and the King of Winter, you do have need of our talents.”

Ignoring how this was in his mind, Haku took up his teacup at the same time as the twins, and took a hesitant sip, only to hum as his favorite flavor hit his tongue. Though, he supposed that it was almost expected, since this was in his mind, or soul, or whatever. He looked at the two sitting across from him as they watched him with excited, almost expectant looks, though he felt it wasn’t about the tea. He set the teacup down and leaned forward. “So, I take it there is some kind of test that I have to complete? Hyorinmaru had mentioned something about undergoing a process and learning your names.”

That got him secretive smiles from the twins. “We know,” they said as one. “And luckily, we believe that you are ready to hear our name, unlike many others whom couldn’t even hear our voices.” They linked hands on the table, and said clearly, “We are Hoshikuzu, guardians of the winter stars, and we shall not be chained.”

Haku stared at Hoshikuzu, and felt a wide grin tugging slowly at his lips. “Well, Hoshikuzu, let us be the best of partners, so that you are never chained again,” he said, holding out both his hands for the twins to take. Which they did, with those secretive smiles on their faces once more.

• • •

Zabuza cursed as he was dragged backwards by his sword strap into the mist. Normally, that was where he felt the safest, any Kiri-trained shinobi felt that way, but this mist felt oppressive, like something dangerous was lurking there. This must have been how his victims felt whenever he used the Silent Killing on them.

Being faced with it wasn’t a pleasant feeling.

A deep rumbling chuckle shuddered through his bones, and Zabuza whirled around to be faced with a doppelganger of himself. Except, the colors were all darker, and the eyes were matte gray on matte gray, watching him almost like he was the prey instead of the predator. “Doesn’t feel so nice when you’re the one being hunted, does it, Zabuza?” Shit, even the voice was similar. Talk about fucking creepy.

“The hell are you on about?” Zabuza asked with far more bravado and confidence than he felt actually capable of at the moment.

The doppelganger tisked and wagged a finger at Zabuza. “Ah, ah, ah, you can’t lie to me. After all these years, I know your every tick and tell, even the ones you don’t know about.” The large grin without the bandages covering it was more than a little demented, but Zabuza got the feeling that factor was purely from the doppelganger. “You’re so caught up in how oppressive the mist feels that you haven’t even realized that it responds to _you_ , not to me. You were apprehensive coming into this, and it hasn’t let up yet. Thus, the state of the mist.”

Zabuza stared incredulously at the doppelganger, and felt the mist lighten up at the mere mention of it being under his control, just like the mist he was used to creating. Slowly, the oppressive feeling lifted, and the mist settled low, showing the swamplands and beaches of Kiri stretching out beyond them.

The doppelganger sighed and stretched its arms. “Oh, finally. I was beginning to wonder when you’d get a clue, dumbass.”

A vein pulsed in Zabuza’s forehead, and he finally growled out, “Who the hell are you supposed to be anyways?”

The barking laugh was almost expected, especially considering that this was a doppelganger of _him_ , after all. The bloodthirsty grin, only slightly expected. “Why, I’m Kubukiribocho. The dragon had said that I had latched onto you, didn’t he?” He looked down at himself and pulled at the pants a bit. “Technically, I have no real form of my own beyond my blade, I’m not like the spirits the others have. I was born out of the blood of our enemies, and almost a century of existence. So, I took your form, so you weren’t just talking to a sword like Samehada’s wielder has to do.”

“Right,” Zabuza drawled, eyeing the doppelganger warily. “So, essentially, Kisame’s in a worse position than me if he ever met Samehada’s consciousness?”

Kubukiribocho snickered, the bloodthirsty grin never leaving his face. “Pretty much, unless Samehada picked up the trick, too.”

Zabuza stared for a minute, before shaking his head. “Right. I’m done with this fever dream now, so I’m gonna just wake up now.”

That got Kubukiribocho to stop grinning. He shot over and kicked Zabuza in the stomach, sending the Shinobi to the ground. Before Zabuza could get up to return the favor, Kubukiribocho’s familiar blade pressed itself harshly against his throat, and he stared up into those creepy matte gray eyes. “Try that again, I’ll cut your damn head off,” Kubukiribocho whispered. “I let you wield me because you’re the only one I want to be wielded by right about now. There’s a whole host of assholes out there who would literally sell their mothers to whorehouses and kill their best friend for the chance to wield me, but I. Chose. You. And I can guarantee that there’s at least one other person in this Village that you decided to set roots down in that could replace you if you ever try and explain my existence as a fever dream again.”

Zabuza stared up unblinkingly, and swallowed harshly. “Got it,” he managed to croak out.

Kubukiribocho gave a sardonic smile, and removed the blade from Zabuza’s throat. “Good. Now, tell the Uzumaki about your relation soon, and try not to jump your boy before he’s sixteen, I know he’s an adult by Shinobi standards, but you also have better morals than that,” Kubukiribocho said, before literally kicking Zabuza out of the mindscape.

• • •

Toshiro watched with a pleased and secretive smile as a basic asauchi formed on Kakashi’s lap, while twin katana asauchi formed on Haku’s. Kubukiribocho stopped the slight glowing seconds before Zabuza fell backwards and groaned in pain. She shook her head, and was pleased, if confused, when two asauchi formed on Naruto’s lap as well. She then remembered that the Yondaime hadn’t been able to seal the entirety of Kurama into Naruto, and guessed that the second was for the other half that would merge with the first, though be a permanent second spirit.

“Things are about to get interesting around here,” she murmured, before going to bring Haku and Kakashi out of their trances. As wonderful as it was that they met their zanpaktō spirits, she wanted her apartment back. Naruto was fine, since he was her brother in all but blood, but the others she was still particular about.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Yeah, who knew that would happen? Certainly not me. (Not joking, this got shot at me out of nowhere and I'm just realizing that it's an actual thing that I hinted at back in A New Home.) By the by, Hoshikuzu translates to stardust, since it's the only original zanpakto that I didn't give a translation for in the text.
> 
> So. That concludes First Steps. Next up will be the Mission to Wave Country! Please stay tuned, I swear it will not be such a long wait as the last time.


End file.
